Of particular concern is a tactic called “admit-deny,” in which a college admits a low-income student but offers so little financial aid that he or she is unlikely to enroll there.
The same college then may turn around and give financial aid — in the form of tuition discounts — to affluent high-achievers with stronger test scores.
“Colleges and universities are not just victims of bad policy choices, they too are making bad choices, and in the process they are shutting the doors of opportunity for low-income students,” Haycock says.
A spokesman for a college admissions association did not take issue with the report’s rhetoric but says that most leaders in the sector oppose techniques such as admit-deny.
“It is a practice that is universally condemned. But it’s a phenomenon that apparently occurs,” says Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
“Nobody is likely to admit, ‘Yes, I do this,’” he adds. “But we don’t think it’s appropriate. We’re counselors, not salespeople.”
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