Officials at Harvard University are reviewing their 2006 decision to end “early action” admissions, the Harvard Crimson reported today.
William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid, told the Crimson that the university was reviewing the success of moving to a single application deadline in 2007. “We’re in the midst of a major study,” Mr. Fitzsimmons said. “At the moment, we don’t anticipate any changes, but we’re a dynamic institution.”
Those comments followed the University of Virginia’s announcement on Tuesday that it would start an early-action program next year. Following Harvard’s announcement, in the fall of 2006, UVA dropped its binding early-decision program amid concerns that the practice disproportionately benefited affluent students. Princeton University also ended its early-decision program in the wake of Harvard’s move.
At the time, officials at those three institutions said they hoped that other high-profile colleges would join them in eliminating early-admission programs. That didn’t happen, however, and the reason is hardly a mystery. In recent years, even some highly selective colleges have seen their “yield” rates (the percentage of admitted students who enroll) drop as they have received more and more applications. At several institutions with early-admission programs, deans say they are reluctant to abandon the very tools that help them predict their enrollments and protect yield rates.
That Harvard would revisit its decision to drop early action isn’t surprising. After all, the university stopped short of making a binding commitment to its new policy. In a 2006 statement announcing the change, Harvard officials said they planned to monitor its impact “to make sure it does not have a negative impact on student quality.”
