Universities Weblog

(Source: University of Florida)

Congratulations to Florida for winning back-to-back national titles in college basketball. Sandwiched between those victories was the Gators' BCS championship in college football. What a year for Gainesville.

Lost in the news was the university's decision to eliminate its early decision program. It seems Florida wants to expand its applicant pool. I doubt they'll have trouble attracting applicants, especially sports fans.

Here's how InsideHigherEd.com covered it:

The chain seemed to break in September. That's when the University of Virginia said it planned to end its binding early decision program - an announcement that followed just weeks after similar pledges at Harvard and Princeton Universities. The move was followed by months of quiet, until now.

In a decision that officials say has nothing to do with other institutions' actions and everything to do with its expanding applicant pool, Florida is eliminating its binding early admissions program. Instead of giving students an option of October 1, November 1 and January 16 application dates (with the first being binding), the university is moving to one mid-November deadline.

In doing away with their early admission programs last fall, colleges cited criticism that the system favors wealthier applicants who are looking for an edge and are not concerned about comparing financial aid packages. At Florida, early decision applicants are generally wealthier and less likely to be first-generation students than those who apply regular decision, according to university officials.

"Since financial aid decisions aren't made until spring, it seemed unfair to ask students to sign a contract without being able to compare contracts at multiple campuses," said Janie M. Fouke, Florida's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Added Zina L. Evans, assistant provost and director of admissions: "This alleviates students' anxiety of having to choose when to apply and eliminates the perception that applying at one deadline gives anyone an advantage."

The move comes at a time when Florida is seeing a surge in student interest. Since 2000, the number of applications has increased by 18 percent. During that time, the university's acceptance rate has decreased from 62 to 48 percent and the yield - percentage of accepted applicants who enroll - has increased from 55 to 64 percent. Test scores and grade point averages have also risen slightly in the past several years, Evans said.

Read the rest here.

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