First year college applicants using The Common Application will no longer be prompted to report any high school disciplinary infractions, starting with the Fall 2022 admissions cycle. Similarly, counselors will not be specifically prompted to report disciplinary actions in their letters of recommendation or School Report.
The Common Application CEO Jenny Rickard reasons:
Requiring students to disclose disciplinary actions has a clear and profound adverse impact. Removing this question is the first step in a longer process to make college admissions more equitable.
– Common App removes School Discipline question on the application, September 30, 2020
Ms. Rickard is referencing studies which show students who have disciplinary infractions are likely not to submit a college application at all.
In systematically expanding access to higher education, The Common Application also restores humanity to the process. Essentially, what may be a youthful indiscretion—you know those actions that seemed to make sense as a teenager— will no longer, at least as college admissions goes, limit one’s opportunities.
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