The Coalition Application and Schools that Accept it in 2022

An integral breakthrough in the domain of U.S education is the conception of the Coalition Application. With its popularity soaring higher with every rotation of admission, the Coalition Application has now catered to the interests of more than a million users. If you’re here wondering about the Coalition Application meaning or Coalition Application definition, don’t worry — everything you need to know is in the guide below.

What is a Coalition Application?

The Coalition Application is a centralized platform for college applications essentially designed to make the process of applying to colleges more affordable and accessible to all strata of the student population. With similar yet distinctive fundamentals as the more popular Common Application, the Coalition Application is the latest college application medium in the market serving as a 'one-stop destination’ for applying to multiple educational institutions. The Coalition Application gives top priority to the socially, racially, and economically underrepresented population.

While the Common Application is still the kingpin, the Coalition Application has successfully made itself a solid competitor with financial aid as its most powerful weapon. College application has never looked this easy, thanks to the efforts of the Coalition Application. 

The Coalition Application at a Glance

If you’ve ever heard of Coalition application for college, you might be wondering what it’s all about. What is the Coalition? Here is some key information at a glance:

• The Coalition envisions a future in which all students, no matter their situation in life, have access to a transformative higher education that is not only successful but also affordable. Thanks to this philosophy, members of the coalition always offer excellent financial aid packages to their students.
• One of the biggest advantages the Coalition for College offers is the fact that to level the playing field, Coalition members support under-resourced, lower-income, first-generation students. The coalition aims to support those underrepresented in society.
• Despite its goal, you don’t need to be in an underrepresented sector to be able to use the Coalition application.
• Nowadays, there are more than 150 partner schools including some of the best institutions in the world such as Harvard University, Duke University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and more.
• The Coalition application is 100% free to use. Applicants may still be asked to pay college application fees, but the coalition provides a fee waiver for eligible students such as members or veterans of the US Army, students with financial needs, candidates with free or subsidized meal programs in high school, and more. 

A Bird’s Eye View

Pioneered by the Coalition of College Access in the year 2015, the Coalition Application is tailor-made for students who are economically unstable, have less or no resource(s), and are historically, culturally, and racially underrepresented. The Coalition Application has emerged as an economical platform for college applications catering to the needs of everyone. It offers an assortment of online tools that assist students with the successful completion, and submission of their college applications.

Through an extremely “slick” application fee process, the Coalition Application has substantially reduced the financial pressure on the students. Admission, and graduation with little to zero debt have motivated students to do better and be better. Students receive monumental assistance while choosing financial aid plans, scholarships, and loans. This is achieved by the cooperative efforts of the member schools, and the students. The Coalition Application is configured identically to most college applications, by including the conventional structure of user information, extracurricular achievements, and essay prompts. This is a ‘one-time fill-up’, and the same data can be transferred to numerous colleges.

The Coalition Application runs on the following beliefs,

• Education is a birthright of every human being, irrespective of caste, creed, and financial status
• Early involvement in college applications is beneficial to everyone
• Every student should be granted equal access to every tool or resource(s) to make their application journey a grand success. Self-reflection, self-discovery, and exploration are the strong pursuits of the Coalition Application
• Every student must receive equal assistance ( through financials, and resources)
• Unified efforts of the member schools are pivotal in enhancing the Coalition Application’s goal for equal access, success, and affordability

Top Tools of the Coalition Application

The Coalition Application tools can be deemed as the “guiding lights” for college applications. Right from posing as a way to collaborate with school counselors, to providing explicit knowledge on different aspects of college applications (and more), these tools make the process of applying to colleges much easier and more efficient. All the tools of the Coalition Application are free to use. They meet top-notch standards, are user-friendly, and are highly effective. Below are the enlisted top features of the Coalition Application.

• MyCoalition Counselor: Behaving as the repertoire of ‘infinite knowledge’, the MyCoalition Counselor tool is the online resource center for students. It offers in-depth information on the various aspects of the college application. Students learn to manage their ACT and SAT scores, pay for college tuition, administer innovative techniques for application essays, and much more.
• Locker: Synonymous with the functions of a real-life locker (lockers in schools, banks), the Locker tool is for storage of all the handiwork of students. This may include school projects, research work, certifications, essays, art, photographs, and videos. This promotes user experience as the Locker becomes the one-stop destination for a student’s supporting documents. They can rummage through, pick the necessary material, and use it in their application.
• Collaboration Space: This is a shared platform between the students and the counselors, family, and friends. There is a high flow of information, assistance, and counseling (for essays, the application process, and choosing financial aid plans) through the Collaboration Space. 
• Coalition Application: This is the final stage of the college application. Students pluck through their assortment of supporting documents, resort to the best application practices, submit the top picks, and hit the send button.

How Much Do You Pay for the Coalition Application?

Colleges typically demand anywhere between $40-$90 as an application fee. With several colleges in the queue, this amount can escalate and become quite hefty and unaffordable for many students. Many times, the cost of college applications restricts candidates from applying to more institutions. This cost narrows down their options and limits the opportunities they may have otherwise.

The Coalition Application is free. Users can utilize all the benefits of the Application (tool and information) for zero cost. However, a nominal fee has to be paid while applying for the colleges. This fee is substantially waived or made economically feasible for the following groups:

• Members or veterans of the U.S Army
• Economically ‘backward’ students
• Candidates with free or subsidized meal programs in high-school
• Active participants of the Federal TRIO programs
• Eligible candidates of the College Board, ACT, and NACAC fee-waiver initiatives

The Coalition Application Essay Prompts

An essential feature of the Coalition Application is its essay element, drawing another similarity to its rival the Common Application. The essay is a requirement for most partner schools, although some of them may also request a supplementary essay in addition to the Coalition Application essay. Many educational institutions hold their unique essay/academic/extracurricular requirements, and admittance is achieved through acing some or all of them. 

Every year the Coalition Application announces five essay prompts. Students are required to attach at least one essay with their application. Though there is no barrier to the word count, a minimum of 500-550 words should be maintained. The Coalition Application essays largely examine the student's interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes. The essay prompts are extensive and universal, and the author has the advantage of allowing their creativity to soar high. According to popular belief, the Coalition essay is for the judgment of character. For the academic year 2020-2021, the Coalition Application has announced the following prompts -

• Essay prompt 1 - Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it
• Essay prompt 2 - Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution
• Essay prompt 3 - Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?
• Essay prompt 4 - What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?
• Essay prompt 5 - Submit an essay on a topic of your choice

You may also read - How to Write the Coalition Application Essays

Who Should Use the Coalition Application?

The CAAS (Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success) aims to provide all students, no matter their social or economical background, with equal opportunities for education. CAAS wants students to have a successful and transformative undergraduate experience where they can grow and learn without being saddled with lifetimes of debt. 

Because of this emphasis on leveling the playing field, the coalition does prioritize the underrepresented in society. However, you can use the Coalition app whether or not you are economically struggling or part of an underrepresented group.

At the end of the day, it still boils down to personal choice. You should use the Coalition application if:

• You’ve taken a look at your schools and found that most (if not all) of them accept the Coalition app.
• You would like to find schools that have good programs and policies for financial aid and assistance.
• You enjoy the Coalition’s features such as the Locker, which allows you to store all of your information, files, and supporting documents so you can simply rummage through for whatever you need for your application.
• You want to get started on your applications early — the locker feature makes it easy to store everything you need until you need it.

How to Fill in Your Coalition Application

There are quite a few parts to filling in your Coalition app. Before you get started, you will need everything. And we mean everything! Start getting ready to gather your requirements, such as your transcripts, curriculum vitae, portfolio, and records of your extracurricular activities. Starting early can help you gather all that you need while giving you ample time to put together your application. Now let’s take a look at what you need to do!

Complete Your Profile

First, you’ll need to complete the biographical info in your profile. The reason it’s so important to get your profile done as quickly as you can is that the Coalition does not allow you to apply for any schools without your profile being 100% complete. Get all the biological info in, then:

Request Your Official Documents

You can use the Coalition Application to request your official documents such as your transcripts. Doing this will allow you to use those documents when applying to every school you are interested in without having to procure documents for each application.

Note Your Extracurriculars

You can start adding information about your extracurriculars right in your profile. You can also note any volunteerism you’ve done.

Start Tackling College Application Requirements

Now, you’ll need to start putting together everything you need for your schools. The process of filling in school-specific apps is answering questions one at a time. You won’t be allowed to skip to see the possible essay prompts you may need to write about. But don’t worry — you’ll get plenty of time to upload your essay to your Locker from where you can assign it to the right essay prompt.

Partner School Membership

The Coalition Application is designed to support the phrase “education is a birthright for everyone.” To be a part of the Coalition Application community of educational institutions, the foremost criterion is to firmly agree with the beliefs of the Coalition Application. Access, success, and affordability are the cornerstones of the Application and all the member schools must adhere to these practices religiously. 

The final goal is to enhance the quality of the application process, make education accessible to everyone, and contribute to the success of each student. The following criteria must be fulfilled in order to be accepted in the Coalition Application community of schools:

• All member educational institutions must extend an affordable/economical tuition fee in addition to financial aid (on the basis of socio-economic status) for all the in-state students
• Private educational institutions must extend a generous financial aid package to all needy domestic students.
• All partner schools require to be accredited, and non-profit institutions
• All member educational institutions must constitute undergraduate degree programs 
• All member institutions must pledge to adhere to the norms of integrity and equity in college application practices
• A minimum of 70% of the student population ought to graduate in a span of 6 years

Schools that Use the Coalition Application

Since the conception of the Application, it has grown to host as many as 800 members and 150+ educational institutions. The schools in the United States actively seek a diverse school population. Students from various ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds are welcomed to attain a world-class education. 

The concept behind the provision of multiple portals for college applications is to mitigate technological glitches, which happen to exponentially increase around the deadline.

Here is the consolidated list of the top schools that use the Coalition Application for their application process:

Institution	Location	Quick Info	Link to School Website
Stanford University	Stanford, CA	The private research institution, Standford University, is located near Palo Alto in Stanford, California. Its campus of 8,180 acres is one of the biggest in the United States. Founded in 1885, Stanford has now become one of the best universities on the planet.	Link
Princeton University	Princeton, NJ	Princeton University was established in 1746. It is an Ivy League institution that is also a private research university located in New Jersey. Princeton is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the United States, ranking in fourth.	Link
Columbia University	New York, NY	Columbia University (officially known as the Columbia University in the City of New York) is another Ivy League university that is also a private research institution. Founded in 1754, this university is the oldest in New York and the fifth-oldest higher learning institution in the United States.	Link
Yale University	New Haven, CT	Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale is a private research university that also happens to have the distinction of an Ivy League school. Established in 1701, it is the third-oldest university in the United States. It also ranks one of the best and most prestigious higher learning institutions in the world.	Link
Duke University	Durham, NC	As a private research university, Duke is based in Durham, NC. Founded in 1838, it wasn’t until 1892 that it moved to its current location. Duke is now ranked one of the very best universities on the planet by many major publications.	Link
Dartmouth College	Hanover NH	Based in Hanover, NH, Dartmouth College is a private research university also belonging to the Ivy League classification. It is the ninth-oldest higher learning institution in the United States, having been founded in 1769. Dartmouth is the smallest institution in the Ivy League, but that doesn’t stop it from providing a high quality education.	Link
Harvard University	Cambridge, MA	One of the most well-known universities in the world, Harvard also frequently ranks as the world’s top university. Established in 1636, this prestigious private research university is another Ivy League school.	Link
Emory University	Atlanta, GA	The Emory University is an Atlanta, Georgia-based private research university. It was established in 1836 and has since then become a highly-regarded institution. Admission to Emory can be extremely competitive, with a 13% acceptance rate in 2021.	Link
University of Chicago	Chicago, IL	Founded in 1890, The University of Chicago is a private research university based out of Chicago, IL. It is consistently ranked one of the best universities — for example, the US News ranks it #15 globally. This extremely competitive school can be difficult to get into, with its acceptance rate at a mere 7.3% in 2020.	Link
Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, MD	This Baltimore, Maryland private research university was founded in 1876. Named after Johns Hopkins, the institution’s first benefactor, this university frequently tops the ranking charts for best in the world. In 2022, it ranks #9 in the US.	Link
University of Virginia	Charlottesville, VA	As a public research university, the UVA is Virginia’s flagship university. Established in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, it now houses the Academical Village, which is proudly a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although it is a public institution, it provides a similar academic experience to that of a private Ivy League school, earning it the distinguishment of “Public Ivy.”	Link
University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	The University of Michigan based in Ann Arbor is a public research institution founded in 1817. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and provides quality education to its enrollees. The U.S. News ranks it third on the list of the best public universities in the nation.	Link

The Coalition Application has been joined by the following new member schools for the year 2020-2021:

Institution	Location	School Link
Austin College	Sherman, TX	Link
Barnard College	New York, NY	Link
Champlain College	Burlington, VT	Link
Christopher Newport University	Newport News, VA	Link
Cornell College	Mt Vernon, IA	Link
Drexel University	Philadelphia, PA	Link
Furman University	Greenville, SC	Link
Lehigh University	Bethlehem, PA	Link
Maryville University of Saint Louis	St. Louis, MO	Link
Mississippi State University	Mississippi State, MS	Link
Southwestern University	Georgetown, TX	Link
St. Mary’s College of Maryland	St Marys City, MD	Link
Texas State University	San Marcos, TX	Link
University of Nebraska - Lincoln	Lincoln, NE	Link
University of New England	Biddeford, ME	Link
University of Texas, Dallas	Richardson, TX	Link

Top Hacks for the Coalition Application

The Coalition Application ranks well in terms of user experience. The user interface is relatively good and the user experience is pretty smooth. The tools offer optimal assistance and inherently uplift the quality of the process of college application. Even with the aid of the Coalition Application tools, it is safe to have a few ‘tricks’ on your sleeve. The idea is to save time and work smart. A thorough read of the user guidelines can reduce your work to a great extent.

Here’s a quick list of the top hacks that might help to make your application stand out from the rest.

A stitch in time saves nine

Procrastination on your college application can foil your efforts to score admittance to your choice of college. It is highly recommended to jump-start your preparation right at the start of your senior year (or maybe even before). Unexpected circumstances can get in the way of you completing your application so starting early can prevent problems!

Unique essays are the key

There are most likely thousands of students applying through the Coalition Application so it’s important to stand out if you want a better chance of being considered. The Application announces its essay prompts early in the season. The idea is to formulate essay techniques, create a road map, and brainstorm unique subjects for your essay. The essay is your best chance to differentiate yourself from the crowd and make a good impression.

Research

It’s generally recommended to do thorough research on each and every requirement for college admission, including SAT/ACT scores, GPA, extracurricular achievements, and FAFSA requirements. Additionally, students can also look into the profiles of all the universities, and colleges to make an informed decision on their choice of school.

Seek help

It is always safe to consult your school teacher, advisor, family, or friend on your college application. The school advisor or guidance counselor is the person for your letters of recommendation, and high-school transcripts. They can provide you with authentic intel on different colleges/universities to help you make the correct choice. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the Coalition App cost?

Now that we’ve answered the question “what is Coalition college application?” it’s time to answer the question of cost. The Coalition App costs a whopping zero dollars. It’s free to use, and you might even be able to get college application fees waived if you are eligible.

How do I submit an application to Coalition?

Submitting your application to the Coalition application is simple. You’ll need to:

• Fill in your profile’s basic information
• Use the app to request your official documents
• Include extracurriculars in your profile
• Attach your essays
• Double-check everything

And that’s it!

If you want more information, check out the “how to fill in your Coalition Application” section above.

How many colleges can you apply to with Coalition App?

Currently, there are over 150 Coalition Application schools and that number just keeps going up.

Who accepts Coalition application?

There are 150 partner schools that must meet certain criteria before they can offer the Coalition application. Among those schools are some of the best and most prestigious not just in the US, but the world. You can count schools like Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Columbia, Dartmouth, and Cornell in on this list.

Conclusion: Should You Use Coalition Application?

The Coalition Application revolutionized college applications. With how the CAAS aims to level the playing field, students are given more opportunities than ever to complete their education. Although not all schools accept the application just yet, the 150+ institutions that do are all fantastic schools that provide excellent academic experiences that can set students up for a bright future. As a free-to-use service, you may want to look into the Coalition application so you can find out whether it’s the right thing for you!