Many companies in the U.S. have added an additional benefit for their employees: free college admissions counseling. The counseling is equivalent to around $140 an hour and assists families with feeling less stressed when it comes to college applications. Among the companies offering this perk are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, EY, and Johnson & Johnson.
Shannon Vasconcelos is the senior director for college finance at College Coach, a company that works with families that receive the perk. Her services are free to those who receive it from their employers. As a former assistant director of financial aid at Tufts University, she is experienced in recognizing what colleges seek in applicants.
An increasing number of venture capital and private equity firms are offering free admissions counseling services to recruit and maintain workers in a tight labor market. Furthermore, it helps keep employees productive by preventing additional stress regarding the college admissions process. Laura Lemmons, the managing director for benefits at Goodwin, commented, “We’re trying to put resources in place to support parents throughout their whole journey of parenthood, and this is just one of these important pieces.”
However, many critics believe this benefit is another advantage for wealthy families. Anthony Abraham Jack, associate professor of higher education leadership at Boston University, expressed, “They’re giving resources for free to individuals not only who could afford it, but who actually don’t need it.” This benefit causes further controversy due to the current state of complication in the college admissions process, including the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, the protests against legacy admissions, and the changing standardized testing requirements.
According to MetLife, worker satisfaction fell to its lowest level in two decades last year. To combat this, companies have also started offering extended maternity and paternity leave and assistance with student loan repayments. Many families are taking advantage of free college admissions counseling, as it can be extremely stressful. In a survey conducted by Empowerly, another private college admissions company, 25% of employees said they spend six to 15 hours a week helping their children plan for college.
More than 3,300 employees out of 170,000 have used the benefit at Bank of America. As more families start to go through the college admissions process, the question of transparency becomes prevalent: How do universities determine their admissions policies? Allen Koh, the CEO of Cardinal Education, another company that offers admissions counseling to top companies, spoke to how every country in the world has more transparent admissions systems than the U.S. With the rise of private college counseling, the practices underpinning college admissions have been called into question more than ever.
