Bill threatens early decision

Early decision hurts minority enrollment and should be discouraged, according to Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, who has proposed a bill that would introduce federal penalties for institutions that allow the process.

The bill singles out institutions that offer early decision, give preference to legacy students, or have minority graduation rates 10 percent below the national average. Schools that refused to comply would be forced to double financial aid offers to minority students on federal scholarships and create programs to improve minority graduation rates.

The proposal argues that the early decision process favors richer, non-minority students because it requires a student to attend a university if admitted. "Low-income students cannot take advantage of early decision, because they need to compare financial aid packages from a variety of schools," the proposal said.

The proposal quotes a Harvard study that claims applying early decision is equivalent to an additional 100 points on a student's SAT score.

Candidates who apply early are more likely to be admitted than if they applied during the regular decision period. For this year's freshman class, the early decision admittance rate was 38 percent, and only 26 percent for regular decision.

Early decision offers legacies -- applicants whose relatives attended the institution -- an increased chance of admission. "Early decision is... for the ultra-elite full-paying kid who may not be as smart as some of the other kids in the pool," said Harry Siegel, the director of college counseling at Stuart Country Day School in Princeton, NJ. "If the kid has a B average and his father went to Princeton, [early decision] is the only way the kid will get a fair look, otherwise he may end up... at the University of the Ozarks."

Education officials have protested the bill, questioning the perceived encroachment of federal involvement. Higher educational organizations including the American Council on Education and Council for Advancement and Support of Education wrote letters of protest.

"We don't think that the federal government has a role in being watchdog over college admissions," said Chris Simmons, Assistant Director of Government Relations at the American Council on Education.

Siegel agrees. "If a University is dedicated to free and open exchange of ideas, they should be the ones to determine the nature of their student bodies," Siegel said. "[Statistics-based admissions] would set up a monster quota system that wouldn't level the playing field, but exacerbate [the problem]."

Siegel also said the process of creating legislation could create unintended consequences. "There are so many publics to appease and too many forces pushing and pulling" on the legislative process, he said. "Wherever they ask a committee to design a horse, they will come out with a camel."

Officials also questioned whether early decision or Legacy admissions affected minority graduation rates, as Kennedy claimed.

While it can play an important role in the college process, Tufts Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin doubts that government legislation per se would directly affect minority participation.

"The senator's intentions are good ones, and preserving access to a college education is obviously a goal I share," Coffin said, "but I am not convinced that ED processes and legacy admissions thwart such access."

Coffin said he agreed with a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed piece by Princeton Dean of Admissions Janet Rapeyle. In the article, Rapeyle argued that reporting early decision information to the government would not improve minority admissions.

According to Associate Director of Admissions Daryl Tiggle, early decision is an option for students with a clear first choice to receive a more favorable look by the admissions committee. The University benefits by admitting students early decision, Tiggle said, because they are more enthusiastic and more likely to contribute to the student body.

Educators suggested the responsibility to diversify schools rests not only on colleges, but high school officials and the students themselves.

"You have to change the mentality of the guidance counselors, not the law," Siegel said. "If your last name ends in a vowel, [many counselors] will at best point you to a third-tier school. The real change for the better would be for every college to admit everyone on a rolling basis, but institutions won't do this because it makes their U.S. News and World report ranking go down." With rolling admissions, a student is either admitted or rejected right when he or she applies.

"Colleges and universities are doing well to make sure that all students are aware of the options open to them," Simmons said. "The responsibilities are on high school students to educate themselves about colleges and then understand what options are open to them."