For some ninth-graders near Fresno, California, the invitation — years before they’ll don a cap and gown — comes out of the blue: You’ve been accepted to Fresno State, the letter says.

Public universities across the country increasingly are sending such acceptance letters even before students apply to college. In more than a third of states, at least one public university now uses “direct admission” programs that automatically admit high school students if they meet certain academic criteria.

The programs seek to help fill college and university rosters in a time of declining high school populations. They entice high school students by allowing them to avoid the stressful college application process for a guaranteed spot. And they are likely to grow in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing race-based admissions, as a new way for schools to increase diversity in their applicant pools.

Some states, such as California and Texas, have long used guaranteed admission programs, under which high school students who graduate in a top percentage of their class are automatically admitted to certain public universities. Direct admissions programs, though, typically go a step further, proactively reaching out to students and providing information on options, requirements and application steps.

“For us to be able to say to our ninth-graders, you can go to college, and you are conditionally accepted into Fresno State, I cannot tell you the way the kids light up,” said Misty Her, deputy superintendent of the Fresno Unified School District. She said 95% of the students in her district qualify for free and reduced-price meals.

Under Fresno State’s “Bulldog Bound” program, ninth graders from partnering school districts in four counties who meet minimum California State University requirements are automatically accepted, as long as they maintain their grades and fulfill high school graduation requirements. Gone are the complicated applications and fees, standardized tests, and the pressure to stack up extracurricular activities, Fresno State officials said. And the college will make early financial aid estimates.

In the meantime, the students get Fresno State IDs, a college email address and access to campus libraries.

“I believe in my heart that this is the gold standard on how to recruit, how to retain and how to graduate students,” said Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, in announcing the program.

“I’m excited that states and institutions are thinking about ways to streamline the pipeline into college,” said Taylor Odle, assistant professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has studied college admission policy extensively.

With direct admissions, “the dinner table conversation can be: ‘Do I go or not go?’ Not ‘Did you fill out that form, did you write that essay?’” Odle said.

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