Sometimes it feels like colleges have all the power during the college admission process. However, as the applicant, you have important rights as well.
Top ten facts about your rights during the college admission process
- You have the right to request information from colleges and universities without feeling high pressure tactics to persuade you to apply or enroll.
- You have the right to accurate information about each institution’s academic programs, facilities, and faculty, along with each institution’s retention and graduation statistics.
- You have the right to the names of all accrediting, certifying, or licensing organizations for each institution.
- You have the right to complete information about all direct and miscellaneous expenses, the types of non need-based and need-based financial assistance provided, and the methods by which eligibility is determined.
- You have the right to accurate information about all aspects of campus safety, including institutional crime statistics.
- You have the responsibility to ensure that all required items necessary for the completion of your application are received by each institution within the required timeframe.
- Once admitted to a college or university, you have the right to wait until May 1 to respond to an offer of admission and financial aid (unless you have been admitted under a binding Early Decision program).
- You have the right to request in writing an extension to May 1 without penalty if an institution requires an earlier commitment (unless you have been admitted under a binding Early Decision program).
- You have the right to historical information about prior waiting list activity including the number wait-listed, the number ultimately admitted and the availability of housing and financial aid. Colleges and universities cannot require a deposit from you to maintain your place on a waiting list.
- You have the responsibility to submit a deposit to only one institution and—upon submitting that deposit—to withdraw from all other institutions to which you have been admitted.
By the New England Association for College Admission Counseling