Yale University was not the only top-tier institution to abandon binding early decision this week.
Wednesday, the same day Yale announced it was ending its binding program, Stanford University also announced that it will no longer require early admission applicants to commit to attending the university at the time of application.
Instead, students will have until May to make their decision, when regular decision students also must submit their decision.
Stanford and Yale join Harvard University in a growing number of elite schools that do not require a binding commitment from early admission applicants.
The schools say that the new policy will allow students to make their college decision with less pressure and more time to consider all their options, including financial aid.
"We have been deeply concerned about the tremendous pressures that talented young people face as they apply to colleges like Stanford," Stanford President John Hennessy said in a statement Wednesday. "We believe this is the right thing to do for Stanford and for our prospective students."
Although many schools have had an early admission option since the 1970s, it has only been within the last decade that Ivy League schools began to switch to binding early decision programs. In recent years, Penn has seen a surge in the number of students accepted under the policy.
Both Stanford and Yale require that early applicant students not submit early applications to any other school. However, early applicants are free to apply to other schools under the regular decision procedure.
This procedure contradicts the policy of the National Association of College Admission Counselors, which states that students can apply to multiple schools under a non-binding early application procedure.
Stanford had hoped to discuss this policy with NACAC, but felt it was important to announce the decision as soon as possible.
"We had hoped to enter into conversations with the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which currently has rules stating that early applicants can apply early to as many places as they like," Stanford Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid Robin Mamlet said in a statement.
"However, we felt it was important to also signal our intent and to provide applicants and families with as much information as possible."
Early decision applications will still be reviewed in early November, whereas regular decision applications are not considered until later. The class of 2008 will be the first to be affected by the new policy.
Although Stanford and Yale made their announcements on the same day, they reached their decisions independently of one another, according to Stanford's press release.
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