Thread by @jselingo

THREAD: Yesterday, in Louisville, something happened that could have a profound impact on #highered in the coming years but likely won’t get much more coverage than this in @WSJ and similar articles in @chronicle @insidehighered.
wsj.com/articles/colle…

@WSJ @chronicle @insidehighered 2/ Delegates at annual meeting of admissions officers and high school counselors voted to remove significant sections of its ethics code to resolve a two-year antitrust investigation by @TheJusticeDept. The code had some teeth and the provisions protected students. Not anymore.

@WSJ @chronicle @insidehighered @TheJusticeDept 3/ Three provisions were deleted, effective immediately. Colleges were prevented from: 1.) Offering incentives for early applicants. 2.) Recruiting students already committed to other colleges post-May 1. 3.) Soliciting students as transfers from previous year’s applicants.

4/ May 1 deposit date put in place in '50s to mark end of an admissions cycle. Colleges needing to fill seats continue to recruit uncommitted students after 5/1, but offering deals to committed students was frowned upon. This change could lead to the endless pursuit of students

5/ At some point admissions cycle needs to END. Unscientific poll found May 1 change is one likely to have most impact. Consensus at #nacac19 was small number of colleges will try to poach next year. If successful, floodgates open. Vendors already thinking of products to help.

6/ The worry is if recruiting of students goes on through the summer, where do they turn for advice? Summer between senior year and first-year of college is a dead zone for counseling. They have nowhere to turn and could be vulnerable to accepting a bad deal.

7/How will colleges recruiting committed students in summer be perceived by public? Already, @NACAC has list of schools still taking fall admits after 5/1. That's seen as a proxy for "financial trouble." Will it be same here or will families like getting better deals in summer?

@NACAC 8/ Then there's the incentives for early decision. ED is already a tool for selective colleges to lock up a majority of their class, with a lot of students with less financial need than regular decision. washingtonpost.com/local/educatio…

@NACAC 9/ Majority of athletes also come in ED. Admissions deans tend to like this b/c they don’t need to “waste” offers of athletes in regular decisions. Don’t need to admit five goalies to yield one. DIII coaches can’t offer scholarships but now schools can offer ED incentives.

@NACAC 10/ Colleges can still adhere to deadlines/practices on their own. Hopefully most will. But how much pressure will come from CFOs, boards? I’ve talked w/trustees who want to bring retail-like incentives to admissions. This, unfortunately, allows that to happen.

@NACAC 11/ As @James_S_Murphy rightly points out these policies might have helped colleges more than students. DOJ certainly thought so. Will be curious if families come to like this. But I'm concerned about who will get best summer deals. Doubt it will be students w/most need for $.