This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the ADEA DHCAS Applicant Portal, Configuration Portal, and WebAdMIT. It also contains resources that may help you work more efficiently throughout your admissions process. If you have additional questions or need further assistance, please contact a member of your account team.
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.
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.
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.
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:
You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to ADEA DHCAS Customer Service.
Use the CAS Configuration Portal Quick Start Guide to make sure you configure your program(s) efficiently and completely in the prelaunch environment. Be sure to check out your CAS's configuration options and review the best practices found throughout. If any optional sections of the application are required for your program (e.g., experiences, test scores, etc.), you'll want to note this on your program home page.
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.
Review the WebAdMIT Help Center for any questions related to working in WebAdMIT. The Reference Guides and WebAdMIT Training and Support sections are additional resources as you configure WebAdMIT for your needs. Documents commonly requested include:
The Release Notes feature new enhancements in the Applicant Portal, Applicant Gateway, Configuration Portal, Liaison Letters, and WebAdMIT, in addition to upcoming training opportunities.
For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.
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 |
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 |