Students Pitch Ideas to Change Higher Ed, College Leaders Listen: REP4

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Some high school students in Pennsylvania believe grit matters when applying for college, and they figured out a way to measure it. They will get the chance on August 5 to pitch higher education leaders on their idea to have college admission counselors look beyond transcripts and other conventional, standardized evaluations when assessing readiness for college.

Their idea is to measure students' stamina and persistence when pursuing goals as another characteristic indicating success in college. They call it a GRIT score, and they are proposing an app that records daily activities and uses an algorithm to formulate a score that represents students' goals, passions and time commitment. Admissions teams could use that score to more fully evaluate students' potential for success.

The students joined hundreds of other high school learners, many who are underserved, to develop their idea as part of REP4, a national alliance that stands for Rapid Education Prototyping. The alliance is made up of six colleges and universities across the country seeking to address issues of equity, access and other pressing concerns faced by many underserved students.

The GRIT score, and other ideas from high school students around the country, could be coming soon to college campuses everywhere.

The innovative and central tenet of REP4 is mining fresh ideas from today's students on how to improve equity in higher education, then actually putting the best ideas into practice at colleges and universities.

The first round of proposals to help shape the future of higher education will be presented Aug. 5 in a virtual national event hosted by Grand Valley State University, the convener of REP4. The other five founding institutions are Amarillo College, Boise State University, Fort Valley State University, San José State University and Shippensburg University.

Leaders from those institutions will review live presentations of 12 proposals — including the GRIT score — by the students who created them. The ideas emerged from recent regional summits for high school students held by the alliance institutions.

Part of the selection process includes voting beginning Aug. 3. Students are encouraged to vote. To see the Aug. 5 presentations and to vote, register here.

This national event is part of an ongoing initiative to encourage students to find solutions to barriers to higher education.

For more information, visit rep4.org.