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Committee backs extending Kansas 'Apply Free Days' pilot from three to five days
Summary
Staff presented yield and demographic data on the Apply Free Days pilot and the committee approved forwarding a staff recommendation to extend the pilot from three to five days in October, while keeping multiple fee-waiver pathways in place.
The Academic Affairs Committee voted to forward a staff recommendation that would expand the Kansas Apply Free Days pilot from a three-day window to five days in October and to continue related outreach and waiver efforts.
KBOR staff presented yield and demographic data for the initiative. The committee was told that state universities reported waiving roughly $285,000 in undergraduate application fees during the referenced free-application collection and technical colleges reported about $11,000 in waived fees. Staff reported a yield of 30.5% for applications submitted during the free window compared with 41.7% for applications submitted outside the window, a roughly 11-percentage-point difference.
Misty Bontracki, who led the presentation, said the free window reaches some students who were not previously planning to apply: data from a statewide survey and school-counselor interviews showed about 10% of respondents had no prior intention of applying to college and nevertheless submitted at least one application during the campaign. Bontracki summarized staff's recommendation to move from a three-day to a five-day October window to give larger schools more time for support while preserving the campaign's momentum.
Board members asked about how transfer students and first-year applicants receive waivers. Lisa Kress, director of admissions at KU, described a simple waiver prompt on KU's application and said KU approves requests without documentation; Margaret Morris Schroeder (K State) said K State uses an automated checkbox process. Committee members also discussed continuing campus-based waiver pathways for outreach and events.
After discussion the committee voted to send the recommendation to the board discussion agenda; the committee did not set substantive new conditions during the session.
