As education changes and we reconsider how we assess students, we can't continue to do what is comfortable at the expense of what truly communicates student abilities. Standardized testing and transcripts have proven not be helpful to many students for various reasons, and end up being accurate for a small percentage of kids.

At the 24/7 Learning Academy, we feel that using digital student portfolios is a more advantageous and accurate way to show student accomplishments.  Transcripts only represent standardized outcomes, and we all know individual students have unique challenges and stories that can’t be explained by a letter grade.  Also, just students with the most resources have the best opportunities to prepare for college-entry standardized tests.  

Digital portfolios changes that and levels the playing field by allowing college admission departments to focus on tangible learning outcomes, reflection, and growth.  Colleges are seeing that companies are looking for candidates who are resourceful, can think outside of the box, show grit, and are now looking for the same characteristics from high school graduates.   

We understand the need for quantitative results like test scores and grades, but we see them as a small piece of a more substantial body of work that represents a student’s journey through school.  

We have partnered with a few companies and organizations that support digital portfolio development for students and are looking for more ways for students to accurately display their talents and abilities. 

Below is a list of colleges and universities that accept student portfolios as a part of their admissions process:

• Amherst College

• Bates College

• Bowdoin College

• Brown University

• Bryn Mawr College

• California Institute of Technology

• Carleton College

• Clemson University

• Colby College

• Colgate University

• College of the Holy Cross

• College of William & Mary

• Colorado College

• Columbia University

• Connecticut College

• Cornell University

• Dartmouth College

• Davidson College

• Duke University

• Emory University

• Franklin & Marshall College

• Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

• Georgia Institute of Technology

• Grinnell College

• Hamilton College

• Harvard University

• Haverford College

• Illinois State University

• Indiana University at Bloomington

• James Madison University

• Johns Hopkins University

• Miami University of Ohio

• Michigan State University

• Middlebury College

• Mount Holyoke College

• North Carolina State University

• Northeastern University

• Northwestern University

• Oberlin College

• Ohio State University

• Penn State

• Pomona College

• Princeton University

• Purdue University

• Reed College

• Rice University

• Rutgers University at New Brunswick

• Skidmore College

• Smith College

• St. Olaf College

• Stanford University

• State University of New York at Geneseo

• State University of New York at Buffalo

• Swarthmore College

• Texas A&M University

• Tufts University

• Union College

• University of Chicago

• University of Connecticut

• University of Florida

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• University of Maryland at College Park

• University of Michigan

• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

• University of Missouri

• University of New Hampshire

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• University of Notre Dame

• University of Pennsylvania

• University of Pittsburgh

• University of Rochester

• University of South Carolina

• University of Vermont

• University of Virginia

• University of Washington

• Vanderbilt University

• Vassar College

• Virginia Tech

• Washington University in St. Louis

• Wellesley College

• Wesleyan University

• Williams College

• Yale University

Resources: http://coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/