The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) is an organization representing more than 15,000 professionals at colleges and universities, high schools, and community-based organizations, as well as independent education counselors. Its Code of Ethics and Professional Practices (CEPP) describes how students should be treated in the college admissions process, and is followed by institutions and individuals throughout the United States.
As a result of a two-year long inquiry by the US Department of Justice, members of NACAC met in September at its annual conference and approved changes to their code in ways that could have a direct impact on your students and their college process. Here’s the skim…
Background
The DOJ holds the opinion that some of the rules in the CEPP restrain how and when colleges compete for students. In an attempt to try to settle the DOJ complaint, NACAC removed from the CEPP three provisions that the department believes inhibits competition among colleges, having to do with Early Decision applications, the May 1 college decision deadline, and the recruitment of transfer students.
Changes to Early Decision
The CEPP previously stated that colleges could not offer any incentive to students to encourage them to apply under a binding Early Decision program. This included the promise of special housing, enhanced financial aid packages, and special scholarships for Early Decision admits. Following votes taken at the NACAC conference in September, that prohibition was removed, effective immediately. This means that colleges can begin to offer students incentives to apply under a binding Early Decision program. Most ED deadlines are early November or early January.
May 1 Response
May 1 is known in as the universal reply date in college admission. It is the deadline for students who have not already done so to commit to a college for the following Fall. Previously, the CEPP prohibited colleges from trying to “poach” a student who has indicated their intent to enroll in another college — no incentives to change their mind, no last-minute scholarships or other benefits. That rule, also, was removed from the CEPP, effective immediately. We will not know the impact of this rule change until after May 1. NACAC is hopeful that most colleges will still respect the ethical guidelines spelled out in other parts of the CEPP and will respect a student’s right to make a college choice free from harassment and the stress of confusing offers and counter offers.
Recruitment of Transfer Students
The CEPP also previously prohibited colleges from soliciting transfer applications from a previous year’s applicant or prospect pool unless the students have themselves initiated a transfer inquiry or the college has verified prior to contacting the students that they are either enrolled in a college that allows transfer recruitment from other colleges or are not currently enrolled in college. This rule was also removed. Now colleges can try to entice students to transfer during any part of their college experience.
Despite these changes, the CEPP remains a very strong statement of professional ethics and guidelines. It emphasizes NACAC’s belief that “advocating for the best interests of students in the admission process is the primary ethical concern of our profession.” NACAC’s president has asked member institutions to “uphold our beliefs”, even in the absence of those explicit rules.