Universities Weblog

"I am very concerned that the 800-pound gorillas of higher education have prejudiced the market against early decision," Massa said.

Eliminating the programs would flood colleges with applications, make the process more cumbersome, and deprive students of the chance to win admission early to their first-choice institution.

"I don't need to get more applications so I can turn kids down. I need to get the right applications from kids who want to be here," Massa said.

Early-decision programs, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, yielding record numbers of applications, allow students to be admitted to their first-choice colleges months before others apply. But students can apply to only one school and must attend it if they can afford it.

That's exactly what some want. [....]

Early-decision policies have come under fire for years, most recently in 2003 when there was talk in Congress of taking action to limit or prohibit them.

The attack wilted, as officials realized that banning the policies wouldn't guarantee more economic and racial diversity on campus, said David Hawkins, director of public policy for the National Association for college admission counseling.

Though only 7 percent of the nation's four-year colleges — about 200 — use early decision, many are high-caliber, well-known institutions. The practice has been around for decades, but it became increasingly popular in the mid-1990s when several Ivy League schools adopted it. Many schools say it helps with planning for the size and scope of the freshman class.

The policies also improve some colleges' rankings in U.S. News and World Report because they appear more selective.

At Penn, officials say the policy enhances the quality of the student body.

The Harvard insiders on the short list are the provost, Steven E. Hyman, a neuroscientist; the dean of the law school, Elena Kagan; and the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Drew Gilpin Faust.

Another top contender is Thomas R. Cech, a 1989 Nobel Prize recipient in chemistry who is president of the multi billion dollar Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the top philanthropies and research organizations in the world. [....]

The status of each of the five names was confirmed by at least two people familiar with the presidential search committee's discussions. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because the committee's proceedings are confidential.

Universities say at best a winning season creates a positive atmosphere on campus that might nudge a few donors. Other than that, winning does not equal more lucrative fundraising.

"When you get into a championship, people start paying attention to the university," said Jim Kunetka, associate vice president for development at the University of Texas, last year's champs. "But it doesn't directly lead to more money."

A University of Florida study in 1996, after the university won its last national football championship, found no correlation between that victory and giving for academic purposes. Other university fundraisers agree with those findings.

"We have never been able to track or show any parallel with the success of an athletic team and the amount of fundraising of individuals or corporations who want to give to the university," said Roger Addleman, communications director for Ohio State's Office of Development.

At most, a program's success means more people returning to campus, and that gives fundraisers the chance to point out non-athletic needs, he said.

"It enhances the opportunity to build relationships, and out of building relationships is how most universities do major fundraising," Addleman said.

Directors of booster clubs at Florida, Ohio State and Texas all say a big bowl appearance automatically drives up contributions to those giving clubs.

In an interview published in the January-February edition of the Yale Alumni Magazine, Richard C. Levin, the university's president, said dropping early admissions would not increase the socioeconomic diversity of Yale's applicants.

Last summer harvard university said it would dismantle its early-admissions program in hopes of encouraging more low-income and minority students to apply to the university. Less than a week later, Princeton University said it would stop admitting students early for similar reasons.

There was reason to believe that Yale might follow suit. In 2001 Mr. Levin urged elite colleges to abolish early-admissions programs, saying the policies were increasing the anxiety many high-school students experienced during the application process. Yet Mr. Levin said that Yale could not afford to drop its early-admissions program unless "a critical number" of colleges did the same.

In the interview with the alumni magazine, Mr. Levin explained how his opinion of early admissions had changed. For instance, he said that Yale had seen a significant increase in the number of low-income early applicants since 2002, when the university adopted a nonbinding early-action program, in which students may apply early to one college but may wait until the spring to decide if they will enroll.

Mr. Levin also said many high-school counselors and principals worried that abolishing early admissions at elite colleges would prompt applicants to submit more applications, leading to larger wait lists.

"Changing deadlines and decision dates will rearrange the stresses associated with the admissions process," Mr. Levin said, "but it won't eliminate them."

Although more regular applicants than early applicants receive financial aid at Yale, Mr. Levin said the university's admissions process allowed officials to "compensate" for a dearth of low-income applicants in the early pool.

"Early admissions," Mr. Levin said, "need not affect the overall demographics of the class."

Several admissions experts were ambivalent about Yale's announcement. Jane F. Ross, an independent educational consultant in New York, called Yale's early-action program a "kinder, gentler" version of early decision but said that early-admissions programs in any form pressure students to make their college choices before many are ready to do so.

Fast-Track students complete the credits necessary for high school graduation and then have the option to enroll in Mesa State College as a full-time or part-time student. Students must have a cumulative high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher and meet additional requirements on the ACT or SAT and have grades higher than a B in their planned area of study.

Grades can't slip after students get into college, either.

"If you don't make C's or higher, you have to pay the school district back" for those credits, she said.

So when I got word that our newest alumni board member wanted to chat, I eagerly dialed the phone. For no particular reason, I'll call this chap "Lane."

"Hi, Lane, I heard you want to learn more about your duties as a board member," I said.

"Absolutely," Lane replied. "I'm looking forward to the challenge."

"Great. Why don't we grab lunch?"

"I have a better idea," Lane countered. "You bowl?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, bowling."

"I guess," I blurted before I could conjure up some debilitating injury that would render such activity impossible. I'm not averse to bowling, mind you, and I've actually enjoyed the sport on occasion, especially when I've been too inebriated to care who's watching me. But somehow bowling during business hours, in a suit, with a board member, seemed, well, somewhat undignified. Nonetheless, duty called.

"What kind of bowling?"

"Tenpin. None of that candlepin stuff. By the way, I also want to discuss our capital campaign."