The Foreign Service Journal, December 2016

94 DECEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT their students within six years. Public universities must demonstrate affordable in-state tuition rates, and both private and public institutions must offer a high level of need-based financial aid. In other words, members pledge to do everything possible to make college affordable and accessible for low-income, minority or otherwise disadvantaged applicants. The Coalition App, in the words of more than one college counselor, osten- sibly “levels the playing field.” (Note: as of Nov. 1, the Coalition has stated that standards for joining may be relaxed in order to allow more institutions to join. Reactions have been mixed. Stay tuned.) Whether it actually delivers on its creators’ aims remains to be seen. The Coalition members themselves admit this is a work in progress. Right now, according to the Coalition website, about 50 of the member schools already offer the Coalition App. The other 45 schools are easing into it more slowly, anticipat- ing first-year glitches. The overwhelming majority of the participating schools will continue to also offer their own applications (or the Common App) for the time being until the Coalition App gets on its feet. That sense of caution certainly applies to the University of Maryland and the University of Washington. Both universi- ties, along with the University of Florida, had announced earlier this year that they would exclusively be offering the Coali- tion App and no other application. But Maryland and Washington both quietly backtracked, delaying their use of the Coalition App until August 2017. That leaves the University of Florida as the lone guinea pig offering the Coalition Application only, with no other applica- tion platform as backup. High school The Coalition sought to create a college admissions atmosphere that was friendlier to minority and low-income students. Continued on page 98