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Every spring, Stanford University and other colleges and universities issue press releases, such as this one, about the accomplishments of the newly admitted applicants and how few acceptances went out relative to the large applicant pool. This year Stanford received 47,450 applications and admitted 2,040 applicants, for an admit rate of 4.3 percent. And that statistic -- seemingly lower every year at Stanford and similar institutions -- results in headlines such as those above.
On Thursday, the university announced that it will no longer issue news releases about its application data.
“When Stanford publicizes its admission numbers during the enrollment cycle, the main result we observe is stories that aim to identify which universities experience the most demand and have the lowest admit rates. That is not a race we are interested in being a part of, and it is not something that empowers students in finding a college that is the best match for their interests, which is what the focus of the entire process should be,” said a statement from Stanford's provost, Persis Drell.
Drell added, "We want students to know that when we encourage them to apply to Stanford, it’s not because we wish to be known as a most competitive university with a low admit rate. It is because we want promising students of all backgrounds to seriously consider the educational opportunities and possibilities at Stanford."
While Stanford won't issue press releases going forward, it's not making the information secret, either. Stanford will continue to report its data to the federal government and for use in the Common Data Set, used by many groups that publish rankings. A spokesman for Stanford said that information would be provided to the Common Data Set in time for use in rankings. (College Navigator, part of the National Center for Education Statistics, includes data on colleges' admit rates and on yields, the percentage of admitted applicants who enroll.)
Inside Higher Ed reached out via email to a few admissions experts for their thoughts on Stanford's announcement.
Angel B. Pérez, vice president for enrollment and student success at Trinity College in Connecticut, said he was impressed. "It really does sound like a sincere effort to calm the hysteria," he said. "Stanford is the kind of institution that could continue to announce app numbers and it would always work in their favor. However, it sounds like they are trying to respond to the many high school counselors, parents and other constituencies that see how anxiety producing those numbers can be for kids. If this is indeed the case, bravo, Stanford!"
But Nicholas Soodik, associate director of college counseling at the Pingree School, wasn't certain.
"I support most efforts to diminish the mania surrounding college admissions," Soodik said. He added, "I'm skeptical, however, about the efficacy of Stanford's decision not to publish their application numbers. I think total transparency about application totals and the admissions process more generally is a much better approach. More information certainly makes our jobs, as counselors, easier. In a cultural moment when many people traffic in erroneous news and information, I worry that the lack of official numbers could lead to misconceptions about a student's chances for admission and perhaps, even, increase the anxiety many applicants feel."
