New Virtual Tours Bring College Access into Focus

A partnership between the Coalition for College and Adora by Full Measure helps students virtually explore colleges committed to access, affordability and student success.

June 21. 2021

The Coalition for College has partnered with Full Measure Education’s newest product – the Campus Visit Experience by Adora – to launch virtual tours focused on the themes of the Coalition’s mission: college access, affordability and student success. 

Raya Ward, one of Adora’s three co-founders who designed and built the digital platform as Princeton undergraduates, knows first-hand the power of sharing the right information with the right student. “Princeton University wasn’t on my radar until I happened to take a tour where the guide spent 10 minutes talking about financial aid,” she recalls. “Affordability was one of the most important considerations in my college decision, so I wouldn’t have been able to see myself at Princeton without understanding that financial support was available.”

Later, Ward became a Princeton tour guide herself and remembers many conversations with students and families seeking more information than what the one-hour tour could provide, especially those from underrepresented communities. “There’s a real need to make this information up front and accessible and at the forefront of campus visits,” she says.

The first cohort of Coalition tours are now live, with more in line to launch in the coming months. This new resource provides a hub where students can explore schools with a proven commitment to graduating students on time and with low or no debt, eligibility requirements for schools that join the Coalition for College.

Coalition tours hosted on Full Measure’s Adora platform feature information about financial aid and scholarships; campus affinity spaces that support students from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in higher education; special programming for first-generation, limited-income and underrepresented students; and student testimonials and advice.

“Campus tours have long been an important part of the college search process, though the cost and time associated with touring campuses in person can be a barrier for many,” says Coalition CEO Stacey Kostell. “Our member schools have made great progress during the pandemic creating virtual experiences that broaden access to all students, and this new partnership helps bring the best of their college access information to one place to help the students we most want to support.”

Personalized tours are at the heart of Adora’s success. The startup, founded by Ward, Ron Miasnik and Joseph Rubin, capitalized on an opportunity in the market to deliver tours that are tailored to a student’s identity and interests, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. The company, recently acquired by Full Measure Education, has partnered with the Coalition to provide this collection of virtual tours for free to member schools as part of a commitment to college access. Adora’s full portfolio of experiences for its growing number of customers also includes enhanced on-campus tours and augmented reality experiences.

“The Coalition’s partnership with Full Measure is an extension of the digital tools we provide to help students learn about, prepare for, and apply to college,” says Kostell. This launch follows a year of new activities for the Coalition, including virtual fairs and panel discussions to support students through the pandemic, new scholarship programs, and new tools to support younger students as they prepare for college.

For her part, Ward sees the partnership as an opportunity to help many more students like herself. "As a student of color who did not have the opportunity to visit more than a handful of schools, a resource like this would have been a game-changer for me,” she says. “It's so important to provide this information up front in order to meet the information gap for first-generation and underserved students. We’ve joined together with the Coalition to create a national movement to make access not just a priority, but the priority.”  

An easy way for students to connect to this new resource: text Coalition to 58052 for a link to all Coalition virtual tours.