Michigan Keeps Early Decision Admission, Bucking Faculty

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is still inviting high schoolers to apply for binding early-decision admission, despite a University Senate resolution urging that it halt the practice.

The Detroit News first reported Wednesday that the university decided to retain the practice. At selective universities, an applicant who takes the early-decision route generally has a better chance of acceptance, but they must promise to attend if they’re offered admission.

On April 30, the Senate passed a resolution—1,364 to 424, with 548 abstaining—calling on Michigan to stop the practice, “pending broad and substantive consultation with its stakeholders, including both faculty and students,” on whether it aligns with the university’s “educational values” and when, if ever, it’s merited.

The resolution echoed common criticisms of the practice, saying, “students applying through Early Decision do not know what financial aid they may receive prior to committing,” and early decision denies them the ability to consider other colleges’ offers, all while it further advantages affluent students “who are not dependent on financial aid.”

But Paul Corliss, the university’s assistant vice president for public affairs and internal communications, said in an email to Inside Higher Ed that early-decision applicants “receive a financial aid package typically within a week of receiving their admissions decision. This allows students to consider the financial aid package prior to the Early Decision commitment deadline.” He said there’s a process for students to get out of the commitment if necessary for financial reasons.

Neil Marsh, the chemistry and biological chemistry professor who wrote the Senate resolution, told Inside Higher Ed in an email Wednesday that “it was a mistake for UM to move forward with this important change in admissions policy without first consulting, or even informing, the stakeholders i.e. faculty and students.”

Marsh said early decision seems “antithetical to the mission of a public university that seeks to provide an education to all students regardless of financial circumstances.”