The University of San Francisco (USF) has started using artificial intelligence to help process thousands of student applications, joining a growing number of higher education institutions exploring the technology. The move aims to increase efficiency for admissions staff but maintains that final decisions will remain in human hands.
While USF is embracing AI for summarizing applications and essays, other local universities like Stanford and UC Berkeley are holding back, emphasizing a traditional, hands-on review process. This creates a clear divide in how Bay Area schools are approaching the new technological landscape in higher education.
Key Takeaways
- The University of San Francisco is implementing AI software from CollegeVine to summarize student applications and flag missing information.
- The AI will not make admissions decisions; its role is to assist the university's 15 human admissions counselors.
- San Jose State University is also using AI, specifically to scan transfer student transcripts, improving data accuracy from 80% to 98%.
- Other prominent institutions, including Stanford and UC Berkeley, have confirmed they are not currently using AI in their application review process.
USF's Cautious Step into AI
The University of San Francisco recently signed a contract with CollegeVine to use its AI-powered software. The system is designed to perform initial reviews of the 20,000 to 25,000 applications the university receives annually. Its primary functions will be to summarize applicant essays and personal statements, and to identify potential gaps or missing courses in transcripts.
Eric Groves, USF's vice president for strategic enrollment management, clarified that the technology is a tool to support, not replace, the school's admissions counselors. The goal is to speed up the review process and allow staff to focus on more detailed evaluations.
"We’re certainly not going to let it read applications alone without human intervention," Groves stated. "That’s not what we want to do. As a private institution, holistic review is still important to us."
The university plans to test the system extensively before it is fully integrated. It will not be used on applications for the upcoming academic year. "We will learn a lot in the coming months, as we see how accurate and efficient these AI Agents can help us to be in the future," Groves added.
A Multi-Tool AI Approach
USF's partnership with CollegeVine is part of a broader strategy to incorporate AI. The university is also using an AI-powered recruiting agent to text and email prospective students, a tool from DegreeSight to help transfer students estimate their credits, and a machine learning product from Liaison called Othot to identify which applicants are most likely to enroll.
San Jose State Focuses on Efficiency
While USF is exploring AI for application summaries, San Jose State University (SJSU) has already seen significant benefits from using it for a more specific task: processing transcripts. Andrew Wright, the senior associate vice president for enrollment management at SJSU, explained that the university uses a product called Raptor from Smart Panda Tools.
The AI automates the creation of templates for various transcript formats, which can differ widely between institutions. This has dramatically improved the accuracy of data entry for the more than 12,500 transfer applications SJSU receives each fall.
Accuracy Jumps to 98%
According to Wright, the implementation of AI for transcript scanning increased data accuracy from 80% to 98%. This reduction in errors means that the small team of admissions staffers dedicated to this task has far less manual data correction to perform, freeing them from being overwhelmed.
Despite this success, Wright expressed reservations about using AI for more complex evaluations, such as assigning transfer credits, citing the high cost and the unique rules each university has. He noted that software for such tasks can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
"When you have a small team managing thousands and thousands of transcripts, it just makes it so that they are not overwhelmed," he said of the current system.
Other Bay Area Schools Maintain Human-Only Review
The adoption of AI is not universal across the region. Several other prominent Bay Area universities have confirmed they are sticking to traditional methods. Representatives from Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Law San Francisco, and St. Mary's College of California all stated their schools were not using AI to review applications.
The emphasis at these institutions remains on a detailed, multi-person review process. "Every application is carefully reviewed by multiple people as part of our holistic approach to admission," said Stanford spokeswoman Angie Davis in a statement.
This sentiment was echoed by St. Mary's College, where spokesman Steven Saum noted the school "definitely leans in on the personal, individualized approach." This highlights a philosophical split on the role technology should play in the deeply personal process of college admissions.
The National Conversation on AI in Admissions
The use of AI in college admissions is a subject of national discussion. Joseph Miller, the chair-elect of the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Admissions Practices Committee, described it as a major topic within the profession. He noted that common applications include:
- Screening student essays for authenticity and quality.
- Reviewing transcripts for completeness.
- Identifying which prospective students to target with marketing efforts.
Institutions across the country are experimenting with the technology. Virginia Tech uses AI to read applicant essays, while Georgia Tech and New York's Stony Brook University use it to review transcripts. The California Institute of Technology is even developing an AI chatbot to interview students about their research projects.
However, the practice is not without controversy. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faced backlash after using an AI tool to evaluate applicants' grammar and writing styles. The prevailing guidance from professional organizations like the NACAC is that AI should be used ethically, though specific rules remain undefined, leaving individual universities to set their own standards.