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June 2, 2026
June Program Tasks
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Priority: The program’s senior survey is ready for distribution, please see channels below.
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Priority: In these final weeks of the program, please continue to promote college options to generate student responses to any students who might benefit. Data will continue to be distributed to colleges until June 15th.
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Priority: If not already completed, invoices for your program funds must be sent to our office if data has been received from your high school. Extensions will not be granted after June due to the state’s fiscal year close-out.
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Priority: Save the dates and register! Fall’s program kick-off and training events’ RSVP links are live!
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Optional: Review the May “Get Set for Success” session content to get ready for a smooth start to the fall.
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Optional: Please take a brief program survey to support our efforts and possible creation of a new program postcard.
- Per your local process, student transcripts can be sent to their colleges of requested proactive admissions. More details below.
- Important state financial aid name change update below.
- Data and metrics are found below.
Program updates for the month follow. This is the final newsletter of the current program year, and they will resume in mid-August.
Senior Survey
The program’s annual senior student survey is available. Please share the hyperlink or QR code with graduating seniors via communications channels available to you. We hope the survey will help us better understand the impact of Direct Admissions on students and their college-going decision-making processes, particularly in relation to perceptions, affordability, workforce goals, and more. The active link will remain live through Saturday evening, June 13th. If you’d prefer the QR code, please copy the following:
Final Data Distribution and Technology Updates
We continue to receive occasional student survey selections and will do so up until Monday, June 15th, when our program tool maintenance window takes effect for enhancements and fine-tuning. Please encourage any final student selections before June 15th. The steps to leverage the tool and send data are found at our Direct Admissions Tool High School Staff Resource Guide. The program tool will then again be available later in the summer starting on August 15th.
Last Call for Invoicing Program Funds
Once your data has been received by the agency, you are able to invoice per your contract for program funds. More on invoicing can be found at the following toolkit resource: When and How do I Invoice OHE
Connecting in the Fall
Please save the date and RSVP to our Fall Kick-Off (and please feel free to pass along to others on your team!).
In addition to the program Kick Off above, we will have two fall refresher trainings as well. Please feel free to RSVP and to pass along to others on your team!
Virtual Drop-in Assistance Hours
Please save the slots for our Virtual drop-in assistance hours, which will occur 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. They will recur on most Mondays from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm, and Fridays from 10:00 am to 11:30 am. In addition to meetings as needed by request, these are a great opportunity for any questions or business needs when the program year starts up in the fall school year. Details follow:
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Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (September 18th through November 20th, 2026)
Join Microsoft Teams meeting
Meeting ID: 274 455 654 588 272
Passcode: bS9Xe3NG
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Mondays, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (September 21st through November 23rd, 2026)
Join Microsoft Teams meeting
Meeting ID: 226 769 004 033 955
Passcode: PU3Nn2fj
May’s “Get Set for Success” Session Content
The training content from May’s sessions included future tool enhancements, the planned annual maintenance window, SIS status updates, best practices within the tool, and more! You can review the training video at the WebEx cloud, and the slide deck is found in the High School Toolkit.
Postcard Sending Survey
Please take a few minutes (less than 5) to complete a short survey about our agency creating and providing Direct Admissions’ Promotional Post Cards for high schools to send to the families of rising seniors. OHE’s goal is to determine if there is demand within high schools for this sort of promotional material, and your input is requested to help guide our work!
Reminder
Be sure to remind students about sending along their transcripts to colleges they’ve requested proactive admissions to. Your local process does not need to change, and this is another possible use of your roster in the Tool. To get a better sense of when colleges prefer receiving this important document, please consult the toolkit resource: Transcript Send Timeline Table
Important Update for Fall 2026: Dream Act Name Change
We wanted to let you know that starting October 1, 2026, the Minnesota Dream Act Application will now be called the Minnesota Alternative State Aid Application (MASAA).
Why is the name changing?
The rollout of North Star Promise provided a great opportunity to raise public awareness around the Minnesota Dream Act Application. With that increased awareness, we became aware that the name was not clearly indicating that it was both a financial aid application and an alternative to FAFSA.
Since fall 2024, this lack of clarity has resulted in a higher number of students filling out the wrong application or both applications.
Changing the name to the Minnesota Alternative State Aid Application (MASAA) adds additional context for students and families. This change also aligns with how many states are naming their alternative financial aid applications.
Is anything else changing?
No. The Minnesota Alternative State Aid Application (MASAA) form and online portal will still look the exact same. All the information that must be submitted by students will remain the same. And the populations supported by this application will remain the same.
The only difference will be what we call the application.
When is this change happening
The new name on the application will officially change on October 1, 2026 with the launch of the 2027-28 academic year.
Over the summer, OHE will begin updating all our materials to reflect this name change. For the first year, we will specifically call out that the application was formerly known as the Minnesota Dream Act Application to ease the transition.
If your organization has any references to the Minnesota Dream Act Application on your website or handouts, please work to update those by October 1, 2026 at the latest.
Data Update
Direct Admissions is winding down the current program year with many successes after much intended change. The program year will likely end with having 246 of the 257 participating high schools (96% of the high school cohort) reporting, with 34,774 surveys sent and 5,070 students engaging (approximately 15% of the eligible cohort). We continue to redistribute student data and will do so through June 15th.
As we look to the fall launch, we plan to add an additional 67 new high schools, bringing the participating cohort to around 325, and serving approximately 43,487 senior students in 65 counties across the state. The program tool will go through some enhancements starting June through mid-August, and we should have all five student information system partners integrated into the program at the fall’s start, as well as the majority of college partners treating the received data fields as initial applications at the program’s launch, both program firsts.
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