A rapidly rising internet penetration rate and a global pandemic have led to unprecedented technology adoption. The college application journey which has slowly been moving online for many years has now seen a complete move to online admissions. Colleges and universities globally have been revamping their online application portals and partnerships are on the rise within the sector with tech enabled admissions platforms to create an easy and hassle free on boarding experience for students.
Innovation led by disruptive technologies is transforming lives of students around the world, democratizing access and providing equal opportunities to quality education by helping millions of students make informed decisions.
 Mehrab Grewal, an industry expert and edtech entrepreneur for his views on which technologies are leading the race to transform the college application journey “A technology first approach seems to be the preferred path for Gen Z and millennials looking to make college applications, be it platforms that deliver artificial intelligence powered recommendations for programs and colleges that best match a student’s profile, blockchain enabled certificate and document issuance or smart query bots that guide student’s through their application journey, these are a few ways in which technology is slowly but surely making its way into the college application process”
Institutes and governments globally have been experimenting with various technology solutions to provide greater access and opportunities to prospective students, multiple surveys and research papers suggest that institutes around the world are working on creating frameworks to adopt and implement a suite of technology solutions both on and off campus
Millions of dollars being poured into startups every year around the world that are working to deliver a seamless college application journey to students is testament to the fact that all stakeholders and investors globally understand that a streamlined user experience needs to be delivered to students, in order to create a long term sustainable and transparent course selection and application module for a complete experience.
“Being an entrepreneur in this sector and having been an international student Mehrab has firsthand experienced the pains and problems that students around the world face when identifying and shortlisting the right programs and courses that best match their interest and profile.  Having interacted with thousands of students across the globe over the years Mehrab has  realized that the college application journey for an overwhelming number of students felt like a maze with no clear path or direction, many companies and startups today are leveraging and analyzing data, this coupled with machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities can significantly transform the college search, course shortlisting and application process reducing the time spent on identifying the most suitable courses, understanding program outcomes and reducing the overall time spent on the admission journey. This would create a far superior and engaging decision making process empowering students to make a well informed choice” Mehrab added.
The dawn of technology in this sector does not only benefit students but also creates ample opportunities for colleges and universities to attract and retain the most credible students by increasing their potential reach multifold. It also allows colleges to map student interest and analyze their expectations to reinvent programs and courses to meet industry demands, increasing their employability chances.
Artificial intelligence powered platforms help colleges better understand incoming applications and outgoing acceptance letters, allowing them to better plan course enrolment. Online video and testing modules help universities connect with any prospective student with internet connectivity, giving them a chance to apply to their dream institute from the comfort of their home “Technology enables transparency, helps analyze patterns and make reliable predictions for the college admissions teams helping them in better decision making. Moreover, the ability to reach a greater number of students around the world could also boost on campus diversity, promoting an overall enriching learning environment and fostering growth” said Mehrab.
Emerging Technologies seem to be leading the way in this sector creating a win-win scenario for both students and colleges. A complete overhaul of the application process powered by tech is increasing discoverability for colleges and the programs they offer, reducing application turnaround time leading to a more transparent and efficient application journey for students globally.