The organization that oversees college application processes will launch a two-year study of application and admission procedures, focusing specifically on the controversial early decision and early action options.
The Alexandria-based National Association for College Admission Counseling has circulated a memo to its college and high school members declaring a moratorium on enforcement of rules governing early admission practices, said Joyce. E Smith, the association's executive director.
Under the early admission system, students can apply to colleges and universities as early as November and receive an admissions decision by the end of December.
Many selective schools offer an "early decision" policy, which binds applicants to attend the school if admitted and prevents them from simultaneously applying for early admission elsewhere.
Other colleges have a less restrictive "early action" policy that notifies students of their acceptance by late December but does not require applicants to accept admission.
Critics of the early admission system argue that it puts lower-income students at a disadvantage because at the time of most early admission deadlines, financial aid packages have not yet been decided.
Other critics of early admission policies argue that the deadlines do not provide students with enough time to consider their options.
The association's decision comes after Harvard, Yale and Stanford universities allegedly violated early admission rules.
The schools announced they were dropping their binding early decision options in favor of early action, yet still insisted that students agree not to seek early admission from other institutions.
The universities' decisions violated the official definition of early action, association members said.
-- Comp. by Natasha Altamirano
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