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October 2, 2025
October Program Tasks
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Priority: You must send out the FERPA/Tennessen notices to families before any academic review reports can be transmitted to OHE. Send by no later than October 10th to stay on track with the program’s timeline.
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Priority: Be sure to have your IT whitelist colleges’ and OHE’s domains so that students receive relevant info at their high school accounts.
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Priority: Set-up credentials for LoginMN and request access to the Direct Admissions Tool. Start or continue the academic review and send the final file to OHE by the necessary SIS or manual upload process. Files are due to the agency before the end of the month.
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Priority: Encourage students to complete survey fulfillment and educate around college next steps.
- Review September’s second round of trainings and the program kick-off as needed. Share with relevant staff. If you haven’t already, please review the program manual, program timeline, and – generally – the program toolkit.
- Determine needs for FREE print marketing materials and promotional items. Order communications through the Bolger system. Continue to promote the program to students, families, and the broader high school community. Information on videos, digital media, web-based, and print-based materials are below or in the program toolkit.
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Optional: Promote MN Goes to College resources and happenings.
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Optional: Plan to attend the monthly Just-in-time High School Mentor Check-in session on October 8th. Weekly virtual hours are available to you as well.
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Optional: RSVP to the West Central Counselor Convening on October 15th at Alexandria Technical and Community College.
Program updates for October follow:
FERPA/Tennessen notification:
The FERPA/Tennessen notification must be reviewed, edited, and sent to all seniors’ families for program notification and to include your local opt-out process. Drafts, including translated languages, can be found in the Toolkit. Only after this step can the academic review process commence, excluding any students who choose to opt out: Sample family FERPA opt out form for Direct Admissions (including translations). This must be completed by October 10th to stay on track with the program’s timeline this fall. After that date, please reach out to the program coordinator.
Whitelisting domains
Please be sure to have your IT whitelist colleges’ and OHE’s domains so that students receive info back at their high school accounts. The document of domains is found in the Toolkit: Domains to Whitelist
LoginMN and Direct Admissions Tool Access
The first steps needed to access the program tool and your high school-specific dashboard are to create your LoginMN credentials to then register accordingly in the Direct Admissions Tool. Please take these actions ASAP. Once that’s completed, the remaining steps to navigate the process are found at our complementary program page for high schools (which has the processes differentiated by SIS used): Direct Admissions Tool - High School Staff Resource Guides | MN Office of Higher Education. If you need a password for SFTP set-up or to access an OHE resource, please reach out to the program coordinator.
Encourage students to complete survey fulfillment and educate around college next steps
Use your dashboard in the tool to monitor and encourage students to interact with their surveys and connect with their colleges of interest. Also promote the Student Center as the best resource in guiding students through the process, including an overview of the email and survey from our agency, making their college selections, and understanding college-specific follow-up and steps.
Trainings are recorded and available
Thanks to those who were able to attend or watch the fall trainings. If you were unable to make them or wanted to review the content again, they can be found in the program toolkit or on our YouTube channel:
Please feel free to pass along to others on your team!
Kick-Off
Thanks to those who made our program kick-off! If you couldn’t make it, or wanted to review it again, it’s now posted to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/zBBG1jx562w
College Knowledge Month
October has a flurry of college-going and college-search activities. Promote MN Goes to College resources and happenings! Check out https://mngoestocollege.mn.gov/mngoestocollege to learn more.
Monthly check-ins
This month we start our optional Direct Admissions' “High School Mentor Meet-ups and Community of Practice” gatherings. These open-ended sessions are optional for any high school member of your community who interfaces with the program. Our session this month is on October 8th from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
The meeting ID and passcode is as follows:
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 277 387 226 787 3
Passcode: fJ3eV2yH
Virtual drop-in assistance
Virtual drop-in assistance occurs twice most weeks of the fall through mid-November, unless falling on a holiday or another business need like a conference or pre-scheduled program event (like Kick-off on September 15th). They will recur on Mondays from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm, and Fridays from 10:00 am to 11:30 am. Details follow:
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Fridays, 10:00 am to 11:30 am (through November 21st, 2025)
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 254 048 019 512 9
Passcode: pL3He7FK
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Mondays, 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm (through November 17th, 2025)
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 290 891 557 136 4
Passcode: YX6XU6vY
Program Toolkit
Please continue to review the materials in the updated 2025-2026 Program Toolkit and supporting resources. In addition to the Toolkit, don’t forget to plug the Direct Admissions’ Student Center (including the new “Guide to Your Financial Aid Letters” video recorded over the summer).
Print and digital marketing materials
To order free printed Direct Admissions communications materials or promotional items, orders can be placed via the Bolger Ordering System at: https://ptk2.bolgerinc.com/smartq/?c=register&ohe=partner Staff will need to register and follow the registration instructions to place an order. When you go to your cart, you will need to add the school address as it doesn’t come up automatically. Please follow the registration process to enter the site.
- Enter the system and browse the catalog to select the products you want to order.
- Enter the amount for each Direct Admissions item that you would like to be shipped to your school at no cost. Select “Add Items to Cart.”
- You may add additional items to assist students with their college-going process, including publications “Choosing a College,” “Paying for College,” and “Grants and Scholarships.”
- To proceed with your order, select the menu item Cart on the top.
- Add the shipping address of your school and complete the shipping form.
- Confirm your order.
- You may return to the homepage to view your pending and shipped orders.
Regarding swag items to promote the program (t-shirts, bags, bucket hats), please be cognizant of a limit that is appropriate to your senior class size. If you have questions or need assistance, please email materials@ohe.state.mn.us. Another helpful marketing resource is the Direct Admissions portion of the MyHigherEd website.
You are cordially invited to attend the Office of Higher Education's (OHE) Fall West Central Region Counselor Convening. This October’s event, given in partnership with Alexandria Technical & Community College, will be on Wednesday, October 15th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
WHEN:
Wednesday, October 15th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Check-in starts at 8:45 am
Optional tour follows the event’s conclusion
WHERE:
Alexandria Technical and Community College
1601 Jefferson Street (room CE/CT 207)
Alexandria, MN 56308
COST:
Free to Attend
Free parking, light breakfast, lunch, and takeaways!
Plus, we offer CEUs, too!
RSVP:
Please RSVP using this Google Form
Priority deadline is Wednesday, October 8th
We know that your time is valuable, the work that you do is critical, and that this has been an eventful year already in terms of college admissions and financial aid. Our Counselor Convening will be a time to gather with your peers and partners from higher education to cover topics including:
- FAFSA and financial aid updates from Office of Higher Education and college financial aid professionals.
- Updates on the Direct Admissions Minnesota program throughout the state, including the future of the initiative and what it takes to become a participating high school.
- Predictions and discussions about the future of higher education, including the test optional admissions practices, tuition discounting, and the impact of new programs like the North Star Promise.
- A brief sounding session from leadership at the agency.
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