State university system touts new application process

Pennsylvania's state universities have announced a new system that will allow students to apply to multiple schools using one common application.

Frank T. Brogan, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, announced the new application - called the Multi-University Electronic Admissions Application — while speaking to a group of high school guidance counselors at Mansfield University.

The system actually was launched without fanfare in August, and more than 50,000 applications have been submitted or are in progress, the state system said in a news release. The state system includes 14 universities: Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester.

"As guidance counselors, I don't have to tell you that today's 15- to 18-year-olds are very sophisticated consumers of information and products, including what they expect in the application process for college," Brogan said. "Our research shows us that speed and ease of use are at the top of the list of their must haves. Call it the 'one-click' rule."

The new application is available through the state system's web site at www.passhe.edu or on any of the web sites of the individual universities. To use the system, students can go to the web site of their first choice and fill out that application. All of his her her personal information and educational history automatically will upload to the second form and so on.

"We know for the vast majority of students who enroll at one of our 14 universities, that institution was their first choice school," Brogan said. "We also know that many of our applicants apply to multiple PASSHE universities. The new multi-university electronic application makes that process simple."