Driving the next era of access and innovation
Higher education provides more than a private benefit; it fuels the common good. Delivering on this value drives our work. Collectively, Common App members are agents of opportunity. To meet today’s unique challenges and pursue positive change, we must embrace bold action and adapt established practices.
Technology, innovation, and partnerships are not simply drivers of efficiency; they are vehicles for advancing opportunity and adapting recruitment practices. At Illuminate, we’ll explore our work in relation to technology, opportunity, community, and each other.
Keynote speaker: Tressie McMillan Cottom
Back by popular demand, Tressie McMillan Cottom returns to Illuminate to continue our forward-looking conversation about the forces reshaping higher education.
Last year, we were challenged to rethink how students understand the value of college. Since then, the landscape has only grown more complex. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence, shifting student expectations, and new pressures on public trust are reshaping how institutions must serve learners.
A MacArthur Fellow, New York Times contributor, and professor at UNC–Chapel Hill, Dr. Cottom remains one of the most compelling voices advocating for expanded access to education and a more student-centered path to opportunity.
At Illuminate, we’ll join her for a discussion on what’s changed and what it means for institutions committed to access and innovation.
“When I come to Illuminate, I always look for ideas and possibilities of how other schools are using Common App and integrating Common App because, as a collective, we are trying to create pathways for students. That is what I really love about Illuminate.”
— Rebecca Johnson, University of Illinois, Springfield
Thank you to our Illuminate 2026 sponsor
Illuminate 2026 exhibitors
