• About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus
      Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus
    • Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali
      Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali
    • Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health
      Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
      Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
    • The block system is a joke
      The block system is a joke
    • Spineless nonpartisanship: how the Girl Scouts convinced me they no longer care about girls
      Spineless nonpartisanship: how the Girl Scouts convinced me they no longer care about girls
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester
      Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester
    • Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart
      Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart
    • “Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded
      “Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • No image
      Athletic impacts of Covid-19
    • No image
      A new kind of PE
    • No image
      Maintaining wellness as the cold sets in
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Jodi Wei News, News and FeaturesApril 25, 2018

Wellesley College under investigation by Department of Justice for early admissions policies

Wellesley admits a large number of students early decision Photo Courtesy of Lien Dao '20 Photo Editor

Wellesley College is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible violations of Early Decision admissions practices. Approximately two weeks ago, the College received a letter from the DOJ’s antitrust division indicating that the DOJ sought to determine whether the College’s current Early Decision practices are permissible under antitrust laws, according to Elizabeth Gildersleeve, chief communications officer. A number of other elite New England institutions—Amherst College, Middlebury College, Williams College and Tufts University—are included in the probe. Grinnell College, Pomona College and Wesleyan University were also sent notices of investigation. Inside Higher Ed was the first publication to report on this investigation.

According to higher education experts, the focus of the investigation appears to be the manner by which some colleges share information about early-admitted students to ensure that the students attend the institutions that admit them. According to Inside Higher Ed, all of the colleges were asked by the DOJ, among other requests, to maintain “agreements, both formal and informal, to exchange or otherwise disclose the identities of accepted students with persons at other colleges of universities.”

According to trends in admissions statistics, Early Decision applications have grown increasingly popular due to advantages it gives students, such as a higher likelihood of admission from the Early Decision pool. Many Early Decision arguments are financially binding, making them inaccessible to students who feel that they need to compare their financial aid options before making their choice. Colleges draw more and more from their Early Decision applicant pool to fill incoming class sizes, especially elite institutions such as Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania. Both of these universities, whose overall admission rate for the class of 2021 stands at nine percent, had early admission rates over 20 percent. 26 percent of Early Decision applicants at Northwestern University were admitted; likewise, the University of Pennsylvania admitted 22 percent of its early admissions pool. At Wellesley, 45 percent of those who applied Early Decision in 2016 were admitted, while only 27 percent of those who applied regular decision were.

Wellesley applicants can choose to apply for either Early Decision or Regular Decision. The former is a binding application for candidates who decide that Wellesley is their first choice. Candidates are notified of their acceptance in December. According to Joy St. John, dean of admission and financial aid, Early Decision applicants “sign an agreement that says if they are admitted and are financially able to attend, they will commit to enrolling at Wellesley and withdraw their applications from other colleges and universities.”

The rules surrounding Early Decision are highly regimented. Students can only apply to one school for Early Decision, unlike Early Action or Early Evaluation applications. Likewise, students can only withdraw from Early Decision offers for financial reasons, such as receiving a financial aid package from the college that would make attending economically infeasible.

In 1991, after a similar DOJ investigation into sharing financial information on admitted applicants between institutions, Ivy League colleges and universities agreed to stop sharing information on financial aid and avoid collaborating on tuition increases. These practices, which were originally touted by universities as a means of promoting fairness, were deemed to be in violation of federal antitrust laws.

As for Wellesley, it is unclear where this investigation will lead. Little is known yet of where the investigation will lead. Analysis and speculation from higher education experts and college and university officials have informed much of the discussion surrounding the investigation. Gildersleeve said that the College’s plan is to fully cooperate with the DOJ. She noted that Wellesley has only thus far been notified of the inquiry and is “not in a position to say whether the inquiry will result in any changes to Wellesley’s Early Decision policies or practices.”

“As the Wellesley community knows, the College takes its compliance with the antitrust and any other laws very seriously. We believe that our Early Decision policies and practices comply with antitrust laws and hope that this will be confirmed by the DOJ’s inquiry,” Gildersleeve stated.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleControversy continues in elections for College Government cabinet over campaign violations
Next articleSenate Report: 4/23

You may also like

Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus

Students attending the puja ceremony

Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali

Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top