ADEA DHCAS Program User Guide

ADEA DHCAS Expansion for the 2026–27 Cycle

Beginning October 2026, ADEA DHCAS® will support multi-track programs operating under a single, unified structure, allowing management of dental hygiene and dental assisting pathways within one platform. Programs with separate structures are not included.

Cycle Timeframes

CAS Applicant Portal

The Applicant Portal opens in late October and closes in late August. You can view the specific cycle dates, including final processing dates (e.g., last date to submit transcripts, last date to request letters of recommendation, etc.), on the ADEA DHCAS Application Cycle Dates page.

CAS Configuration Portal

Between mid-August and mid-September, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment. The account team and ADEA review submitted configurations in September.

WebAdMIT

You can view new applicants and initiate a transfer settings shortly after the new cycle opens in late October.

Program Participation Requirements

ADEA requires all programs to designate two contacts at your institution who will receive all communication from ADEA and ADEA DHCAS, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications.

Applicant Portal

The first three sections of the ADEA DHCAS application (i.e., Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information) compose the core application. They contain questions that are commonly asked of applicants across all participating programs, such as an applicant's biographic information, standardized test scores, and experiences. The fourth section of the application is Program Materials, which is customized by you through the Configuration Portal (discussed in the next section).

You can access the ADEA DHCAS application and ADEA DHCAS Applicant Help Center to review the applicant experience. You can also create a test application in the Applicant Portal; we recommend creating a new account and adding "test" to your name (e.g., TestJohn TestDoe).

For a general overview of the applicant experience, review the following documents:

Applicant Processing Reference Guide: learn how applicants move through the application and Liaison processes applicant materials, such as transcripts and official test scores.
Application Statuses Reference Guide: review what each application status means and how you can interact with applicants at different stages.
- Review the requirements for the ADEA DHCAS Complete application status.
ADEA DHCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs: a suggested timeline for completing and submitting the application, links to important pages including cycle dates and fees, and a FAQs section.

You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to ADEA DHCAS Customer Service.

Configuration Portal

Once you've configured your program, you'll need to have it approved by the account team and ADEA before it is available to applicants. If your program is reviewed after the cycle launches, ADEA will approve it.

WebAdMIT

Background checks through Certiphi.
Data Dictionaries and Master Code Lists: a comprehensive list of all fields available in the Export Manager and Report Manager, including associated lookup tables.
Deferring Applicants On Demand: learn how to transfer deferred applicants from one cycle to the next.
Deferring Applicants via the Liaison-assisted Deferral Process: learn how to transfer deferred applicants from one cycle to the next.
Integration Help Center and WebAdMIT API: learn how to set up an API and schedule automatic data exports from WebAdMIT into your SIS/ERP.
Reporting Final Decision Codes: learn how to use WebAdMIT to place applicants in Decision Codes and report them back to ADEA.
Transfer Settings Guide: a review of how programs and templates built in WebAdMIT are carried forward each cycle.

Cycle Enhancements

2026-2027

The table below contains enhancements for ADEA DHCAS for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.

Portal	Section	Enhancement Details	Implementation	Availability
CAS Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Agreement Statements	The Pre-Submission Release statement, where applicants can choose to share their basic contact information before they submit their application to your program, has been updated for conciseness.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Contact Information	Applicants can validate their mailing addresses via the SmartyStreets integration. You can view verified address data from WebAdMIT.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Race and Ethnicity	The US OMB published a set of revisions to SPD 15, which results in a new combined race and ethnicity question, with Middle Eastern or North African added as a major race category. Review the release notes for more information about changes to the CAS Applicant Portal and Liaison Outcomes/WebAdMIT, as well as best practices in managing these changes.	Action required by all participating programs.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Professional Transcript Entry	Applicants can opt to use Professional Transcript Entry (PTE), a service where applicants pay an additional fee to have Liaison's PTE specialists enter their coursework.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Supporting Information – Achievements	CASs can choose to collect and require country and state data for an applicant’s achievements (e.g., awards, honors, presentations, etc.).	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Configuration Portal	Prerequisites	You can now set the maximum number of courses that an applicant matches to a prerequisite. Review our best practices when using this feature.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available now
WebAdMIT	Deferred Applicants	CASs can transfer deferred applicants on demand. Additionally, CAS-verified GPA calculations (e.g., GPAs by academic year, GPAs by course subject, etc.) are included in the deferral.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch

2025-2026

The table below contains enhancements for ADEA DHCAS for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.

Portal	Section	Enhancement Details	Implementation	Availability
CAS Applicant Portal	User Interface	The application is updated to the new Mobile UX design, which has an updated look and feel, updated application workflows, and is optimized for mobile devices.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Agreement Statements	The Agreement Statements and links were updated.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Biographic Information	The Sex question and answers were updated. The Gender Identity question was removed.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Other Information	The DACA question was removed. The Relatives in Oral Health question was updated.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
CAS Applicant Portal	Program Materials – Documents	The Required Documents and Optional Documents headers have been removed.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Liaison Letters	Recommendation Forms	Recommenders (and if applicable, their delegates) can reopen and edit their completed letters of recommendation (i.e., evaluation, reference).	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Liaison Letters	Recommendation Request	The programs that the applicant is applying to are no longer listed in Liaison Letters.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
WebAdMIT	Applicant Details Page Email Templates Export Manager List Manager	The Title field is no longer collected in the application and will be removed from WebAdMIT. You will need to update any lists, exports, emails, and other integrations to account for this field removal.	Action required by all participating programs.	Available at cycle launch
WebAdMIT	Export Manager List Manager	A new Experience Totals field grouping is available, where you can search by and extract total hours within a specific experience type (e.g., total employment experience hours, etc.).	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
WebAdMIT	Report Manager	A new Multi-Row In Progress Report is available in the Report Manager, under the Applicant report type.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
WebAdMIT	Applicant Details Page	The CAS Custom Questions panel has subpanels by question block, so you can more easily find applicant data and restrict your users' access to it via Work Groups.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch