WIU joined a program called Common App Direct Admissions. The goal is to simplify the college application process across the country.
Doug Freed, director of undergraduate admissions and enrollment, says the program allows students to see whether they meet Western's requirements before submitting transcripts.
"The Common App, we were on the platform for a couple of years," Freed said. "And, since the Common App allows students to very easily apply to multiple universities, we wanted to make sure that we were putting ourselves out there as a university that if the student applied to us, they would know that they would be admittted. So, we take kind of the guesswork out of it for them."
WIU joined the program last fall.
"We've seen about 500 applications come in so far as a result," Freed said. "So, we are able to track with the Common App those students who we invited to apply, and then how many of them did apply. So we've actually gotten over 500 hundred applications from this partnership already."
The university is one of only two in Illinois to participate in the program.
The Common App Direct Admissions program was founded in 2021.