A proposal that would limit colleges’ use of early-decision admission policies may soon take flight in Congressional affairs.
Although there has been no official proposal from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the idea has been floated around Capitol Hill by a member of Kennedy’s office, according to David Hawkins, director of public policy for the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
The proposal would be one revision made to the Higher Education Act. It would reduce federal support for colleges that utilize early-decision policies or give extra consideration to children of alumni or that have a lower graduation rate for minority students.
According to the NACAC’s website, early-admission decisions are a process by which students make a commitment to their first-choice college. If admitted, they must enroll. Students may apply to other institutions, but can only have one early decision application pending.
Although NACAC does not have a position on whether Sen. Kennedy’s proposal is good or bad, the organization is concerned that this proposal would only be counterproductive.
“Colleges must have the flexibility to conduct admission in a way that enables them to assemble the student body [needed] to serve their mission, their community or their state,” Hawkins said. “Banning early decision would constitute a significant ‘camel’s nose into the tent’ of admission policy by the federal government.”
Hawkins also pointed out another more serious consequence of disciplining colleges for their admission policies: although only 18 percent of colleges and universities nationwide offer early decision, penalizing colleges for having early-decision policies would open the door for additional regulation of the college admission process.
Jim Manley, press secretary for Kennedy, could not comment on whether any decisions had been made regarding whether to include early-decision penalties in the bill.
“Sen. Kennedy is looking at several options for what should be included in the Higher Education Act,” Manley said. “No specific decisions have been made yet, but Sen. Kennedy is looking forward to moving this bill ahead.”
The University of Wisconsin does not offer an early decision option. Instead, UW uses rolling admission, a process where applications are reviewed as they are completed. Admission decisions are administered to students throughout the admission cycle.
Rob Seltzer, UW director of admissions, said this admission process is preferable from the student’s point of view.
“Rolling admission reduces the tremendous amount of pressure a student is under senior year. It’s better than the student who has to commit before financial aid or living arrangements are even settled,” Seltzer said.
However, Seltzer also said he understands why colleges would find early decision preferable.
“Early decision makes a college’s stats look better, and they have their class settled earlier,” Seltzer said. “But it restricts students’ freedom of choice.”
According to Hawkins, recent students have found that early-decision applicants may have an unfair advantage over their regular admission peers.
“One such study, ‘The Early Admission Game’ by Christopher Avery, found that applying early decision was roughly equal to a 100-point boost to an applicant’s SAT scores,” Hawkins said.
