The Rising Concerns of Unethical Admission Practices Across Institutions

In the past decade, there has been an uptrend in the amount of disputes admission departments at institutions are encountering. Much of these issues surround the facts that the U.S. high school graduation rate and the total population of students planning to attend college are dramatically lower than anticipated. Statistics show that there will not be an increase in these numbers until 2025, or potentially pushed past this date. In large markets such as the Philadelphia region, there are over 100 different colleges or universities within a 50-mile radius attempting to recruit the same students. While tuition inflation, technology fees, and outdated facilities are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for the added pressures most of these schools are dealing with, they are having to handle them without knowing what their future holds due to a smaller population of potential students actually enrolling.

The facts have led to schools risking their reputations; doing whatever they can to enroll students to at least break-even from previous enrollment cycles. With institutions pursuing these drastic measures, there has been an increased concern for the unethical actions being implemented by admissions departments. Some of these dilemmas include; malpractices in recruiting, enrolling unqualified applicants in order to meet numbers, cutting budgets while attempting to increase enrollment, and much more.

With dilemmas continuously coming to the surface, there has been recent news of NACAC (the National Association for College Admission Counseling) violating federal antitrust laws with its new 15-page ethics code. The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged the purpose and importance regarding the regulations set forth by NACAC. “The purposes for which the Association is organized and operated are educational and charitable. The Association is an organization of institutions, organizations, and individuals dedicated to serving students as they explore options and make choices about pursuing post-secondary education. NACAC is committed to maintaining high standards which foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process.”

From personal interactions and proven figures, many admissions counselors across the board are still at the early stages of their careers in higher education. Much of this is in due part to counselors “burning out”. The constant pressures they receive from their supervisors and/or leadership on campuses is a significant reason for this happening more often than it should. Counselors may become only concerned about their enrollment numbers rather than actually counseling students throughout the process in order to receive the satisfaction they hope to get. Leaders at institutions may also be creating unethical environments for how admissions counselors should matriculate students, so that they do not have to worry about the possibilities of being out of a job.

Have you, or someone you know, experienced unethical actions taken by admissions departments? What are some initiatives universities should take to support millennials and other generations who intend on pursuing a degree?