TJ Walker breaks down Tulane's ban on Colorado Academy early decision applications after a student withdrew, calling it proof the system is rigged for the wealthy. He argues early decision lets elite universities act like a cartel, hurts middle-class families, and cites an antitrust suit over collusion around enforcement.
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Tulane University bans a High School from early decision Tulane University has barred Colorado Academy from submitting early decision applications for one year after a student reneged on an early decision commitment. According to the Times. Tulane, where early decision fills a majority of seats, said the school, quote, failed to uphold the expectations of the early decision agreement, adding that a last minute withdrawal without explanation unfairly impacts other applicants. Now, early decision is not legally binding. Students routinely back out over aid or personal changes. A veteran counselor called Tulane's move unheard of. Mark Salisbury, a tuition fit, said Tulane's limited offers rationale is misleading and the ban looks like extortion. Critics argue early decision advantages, wealthier families and locks students in before comparing age A new antitrust suit alleges dozens of colleges and application platforms collude to enforce early decision rules and inflate costs. And I should note Tulane is not a defendant in that case. As plaintiff Jude Robinson put it, I had to give up the right to compare the cost of attendance at dis different schools. What's the real message here? Tulane is playing hardball because it can get away with. Big universities are now run like a cartel and their only job is to extract more and more wealth from rich parents. They have become a luxury brand pandering to the top 1% and this whole early decision thing helps them get away with it. It should be abolished. Let's dig a little deeper here. I mean this is one of these issues where at first blush you it seems reasonable, oh, you love this one school. It's your number one choice, you're willing to commit, they want you. Seems like a good marriage, right? The problem is it really does disadvantage not just poor kids, but middle class kids. Frankly, more middle class kids. If you're a really poor kid, it might not matter because if that is your top choice school, they're probably going to give you a full ride anyway. If it's a really good school where it does have a huge impact is lower middle class, middle class and even upper middle class students. You have to make a decision that hey, do like this school. Maybe it is my number one school, but there's another three schools that I'd be almost as happy with. And if they're willing to give me a deal where I get the whole education for 20,000 a year and my number one school wants 50,000 a year, I'd much rather do choice two or three, you can't do that. You can't make that decision. And sure, these colleges make it easier than ever to get loan after loan after loan but do you really want to start life as a 22 year old or as a 24 year old coming out of graduate school with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt? If maybe a school that was just a tiny notch below in your own priority list would have been happy to have you and maybe even give you a full ride. For my kids, a lot of kids, if their parents have plenty, I mean, it doesn't matter, it's pocket change. But for middle class and lower middle class parents, parents and kids, it can be devastating. So once again we see another institution in society that is really geared heavily, heavily to the advantage of the incumbents who are already doing well. College is supposed to be about bringing new people and bringing more opportunity. First generation college kids, that's the American dream. That's in part what brought such dynamic growth to this country in the 1940s and 50s. People coming home from the war, first generation going to college, spending almost no money, getting college degrees. Even when I was a kid, which I'm old, but I'm not old enough to have gone to college in the 40s or 50s. But when I was going to college in the early 80s, it was still relatively inexpensive. And if we had any kind of thing like an early decision, I wasn't even aware of it. But it's yet another system that can be gamed to the advantage of wealthiest. Now the wealthy also have advantage of all sorts of college consultants. And hey, it's a free society. There should be the ability to have college consultants who have an almost mathematical precision where they look at you, look at your college grades, look at your SAT or ACT scores, your extracurriculars, and they could do an amazing job of predicting, okay, here's the best college you can get into for early decision. And it's going to be better than any college you can get into if you do the regular process. And this very same college that will let you in through early decision won't let you in if you wait and apply regularly. So go ahead if that sounds confusing to you. It is. That's why people spend thousands and thousands of dollars on high priced college consultants to help them come up with the best choice. And if you're thinking, well, does a lower middle class kid have that advantage, or poor kid, or a middle class. Now their parents are not going to spend $10,000 on a college consultant to give them the exact precise mathematical calculation on what is the best fit for them and who cares about money, they're not going to do that. They have to take into consideration the money and it's unfair. Now, the antitrust thing relates to the fact that colleges, see, okay, you pledged Early Decision there and you broke it. Now you want to come to our college or, well, we're going to be a part of the cartel. We're not going to accept you because you said no to this other college. Because we want people who accept us for Early Decision to honor that. So we're going to be essentially like a mob group, mob enforcement. That's why antitrust authorities are looking at that. I think it's time to break up this cartel because higher education has. Scott Galloway speaks about this quite eloquently. He says they're no longer in the business of education. They are really just hedge funds that have a luxury brand that are selling diplomas. That's what they are. They're about elite. It's about, look at this purse I have. Look at this Louis Vuitton purse I have that cost $5,000. Doesn't that make me cool? I never use it or open it anywhere, but look at it on my shelf. Aren't I cool for having. I mean, that's what college educations become to many people today. And Tulane, I think, deserves a real black mark. First of all, I didn't even know Tulane was hard to get into for, you know, forgive me, back in my day, that was most people's safety school. But apparently they do have more applicants than they have slots and feel the need to do this. It's a hard thing to quit because if you say, I'm not going to participate in this, if you're a student, then you may ruin your chances of getting into your dream college. So. So this is a perfect example of why government needs to regulate this. And maybe it's time to say, knock it off, folks. Have one admissions process. Let everyone apply, give them their price you're charging and then let students and their families do a true apples to apples comparison of. Okay, this school is giving me this package. It's going to cost me X amount of dollars per year to go to this school. This one's giving me Y package. It's going to cost me Y dollars a year to go to this school. Now I can make a fair comparison. Right now the marketplace is completely rigged so that you don't really know what you're getting. And the only beneficiary is the university. It does not give an advantage to students and parents, certainly doesn't give an advantage to kids and parents who aren't the top 1% or the top 5% SA.
