Princeton acts quickly after Harvard announcement
By: Hilary Parker
Ten years after Princeton University established a binding "early-decision" program whereby early applicants to Princeton agree to attend the university if admitted and nearly three decades after an early-admissions program first began at the university the university announced Monday that early admission to Princeton will be a thing of the past as of next year.
"We are making this change because we believe it is the right thing to do," said Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman in a written release. "The ultimate test of any admission process for Princeton is whether it is fair and equitable to all our applicants and whether it allows us to enroll the strongest possible class.
"In recent years we have instituted the most generous financial aid program in the country, and we have significantly increased the diversity of our student body," the president’s statement continued. "We believe that a single admission process will encourage an even broader pool of excellent students to apply to Princeton, knowing that they will be considered at the same time and on the same terms as all other applicants."
The announcement came one day shy of a week after Harvard University interim President Derek Bok announced Harvard’s decision to eliminate early admission, claiming that such programs "tend to advantage the advantaged."
President Tilghman said those who made Princeton’s decision herself, Dean of Admission Janet Lavin Rapelye and Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel agreed with Mr. Bok’s assessment. The decision received "strong support" from the board of trustees, the university said. Board members were on campus over the weekend for a previously scheduled meeting.
This year’s high school seniors will be the last class eligible for early admission to Princeton, with a Nov. 1 deadline for early decision still in effect, followed by a Jan. 1 deadline for regular-decision applicants.
As of next year, however, a single application deadline for those students applying to enroll in September 2008 will be instituted. Dean Rapelye said the exact date has not been set at this time, but it would likely be in the latter half of December with notification of Princeton’s decision being made to applicants at the beginning of April 2008.
Princeton’s announcement came on the same day Dean Malkiel made another announcement at a university faculty meeting.
"With a record-high representation of students from minority backgrounds as well as international students, the class of 2010 is the most diverse in Princeton’s history," she said, with 37 percent of the class of minority background and 10 percent hailing from foreign nations.
Of the 1,231 students in the Class of 2010, almost 49 percent were admitted early. Over 55 percent of the freshmen were awarded financial aid, averaging nearly $30,000 each. Since 2001, the university has provided financial aid in the form of grants that do not need to be paid back, as opposed to loans.
"We want students from all backgrounds and financial circumstances to know that Princeton is affordable to them, and that they will receive full and thoughtful consideration in our admission process," said Dean Rapelye in a written release. "We hope that eliminating early admission sends a strong message to students and schools around the country that Princeton is committed to the fairest and most equitable admission process we can devise."
In addition to lessening the pressure on high school students to make "premature decisions about their college choice," Dean Rapelye said the elimination of the early-admission program will provide the Princeton admissions staff with additional time to meet with future applicants, as well as their families and school officials, to discuss the educational and financial aid opportunities at Princeton.
The university is currently in the process of enlarging its freshman class, with an eye toward enrolling slightly more than 1,300 first-year students in fall 2009.

