How a black-owned common application system is helping low-income students to get multiple college admissions

The cost of applying to colleges has prevented many low-income families from sending their children to universities because they basically can’t afford it. Some families apply to charities to get their kids into college, an option they can’t be assured of getting help.

However, some low-income students have made it in the news for being accepted into dozens of colleges and awarded as much as $1 million in scholarships. One of such students is 17-year-old Georgia high school student Jordan Nixon who got accepted to 39 universities and awarded $1.6 Million in scholarships.

As at March 2019, Nixon has received more acceptances than any other student in her Atlanta high school, Douglas County High, and she is expecting more after her search for diverse schools that offer international business as a major.

Her “secret” helper was the streamlined college application process called Common Black College Application that helps black and low-income students to apply to nearly half of America’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) with a one-time fee of $35.

Founded by education consultant, Robert Mason, who has worked for years in admissions, the application solves the problems faced by low-income families who can’t afford the cost of applying to multiple colleges and HBCUs who can’t find qualified students.

“I was the first one in my family to attend college. I know the importance of an education and how it can contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty in families,” said Mason on the common application’s website which is run by his consultancy Edu.Inc.

Common Black College Application allows students to apply to up to 52 colleges and universities at the same time with the one-time fee and the schools that accept the application do not charge anything extra.

Unlike the traditional college application process of filling out one application per school, this does away with the repetitiveness and allows you to also apply for financial aid, housing, among others to schools such as the Fisk University of Tennessee, Morgan State University of Maryland, Norfolk State University of Virginia, Tuskegee University of Alabama and Voorhees College of South Carolina.

The Common Black College Application boasts of a 97% success rate with most applicants being accepted in at least one school and the website states that more than 100,000 students from the U.S., Africa, South America and the Caribbean have completed their application.

“I wanted to challenge myself. That was the most important thing for me, just to show others anything is possible and that anyone can accomplish it too,” Nixon who has not yet decided on a school told local media CBS46.

Nixon has until May 1 to make her final choice.