Harvard University, breaking with a major trend in college
admissions, will eliminate its early admissions program next year, with
university officials arguing that such programs put low-income and minority
applicants at a distinct disadvantage in the competition to get into selective
universities. For three decades Harvard has offered a particular
form of early admissions, in which students who are accepted early still have
the freedom to go elsewhere. Various forms of early admissions are offered by
hundreds of colleges and universities, with many requiring applicants to commit
upfront(预先) to attending the university if offered early admission.
The popularity of the procedure grew significantly in the 1990s,as
colleges tried to increase their competitive advantage by locking in strong
candidates early. But at Harvard and many other universities officials have
grown concerned about that early admissions present a major obstacle to
low-income and working-class students. Such students have also been hurt by
steep tuition increases and competition with students from wealthy families who
pour thousands of dollars into college consultants and tutoring.
Under binding early admission programs, students have to commit to a
college long before they know how much aid they will be offered; whereas
students who apply for admission in the regular cycle are able to compare
financial-aid offerings from various colleges before making up their minds in
April. Under Harvard’s early admissions program, students do not have to decide
until May 1 whether to accept an admission offer. Even so, many potential
applicants did not understand the distinction between Harvard’s program and
those that require an upfront commitment and were discouraged from
applying. Under Lawrence H. Summers, the Harvard president who
left office in June, the university took a number of steps to make itself more
accessible to poor and working-class students. The idea of abandoning early
admission was developed after Derek Bok became interim president. Early
admission will remain in effect in the current academic year, which is already
under way. If a student is admitted under a binding early admission program, he will lose the chance of comparing _____.