The issue is no longer simply whether colleges and universities are technologically capable or technically compliant. It is whether they are prepared for what comes next.
The institutions that will navigate the next several admissions cycles best are the ones that recognize early yield as a lagging indicator rather than a leading one.
President Donald Trump's plans to close the U.S. Department of Education have run headlong into an awkward reality: The agency does important work that still needs doing.
Those of us working most closely with students know that persistence does not happen because a resource exists. It happens because a student is ready to engage in it.
The day a student uses their phone to access a residence hall, get a meal, or make a purchase is the day the system is fully public. There is no quiet rollout.
