The University of Michigan stole the playbook from the private colleges.
It announced yesterday that it is adopting an Early Decision program for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, in addition to its Early Action and Regular Decision programs. This is a bold decision as Early Decision programs were mostly a private college strategy.
Students who apply Early Decision are required to enroll unless there is a serious and documented financial aid concern. Private colleges have been the drivers of Early Decision for years. Public colleges are joining the game. It's a turning point in the industry. Public colleges haven't been as strategic about admissions until now.
The University of Michigan joins a handful of other public colleges that have adopted Early Decision programs. The College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia used to be the only public schools that offered ED. Then, the University of Vermont and the University of Connecticut joined the ED bandwagon. Now, arguably the most popular and one of the most selective public colleges in the country, Michigan, joins the ranks.
The timing of Michigan's announcement is important, though. A few months ago, the University of Southern California, a private college and one of Michigan's biggest competitors for business students, announced that it would be offering an ED round for its business program, Marshall School of Business. Michigan went all in, though. It isn't just offering ED to its business applicants to the Ross School of Business, but to all applicants. Touché.
Another addition that Michigan is making this year is offering a dual degree program between the business and engineering programs, which allows students to pursue two undergraduate degrees at the same time. It's not surprising. The University of Pennsylvania has offered a dual degree program between the Wharton School of Business and School of Engineering and Applied Science for decades.
Michigan has its sights set on becoming more desirable among its competitors—many of which are private colleges. Last year, Michigan's yield rate was 47%. University of Southern California's yield rate last year was 43%. Penn's yield rate last year was 68%. Don't be surprised if USC adopts an ED policy for all programs in the near future. These three institutions—USC, Penn, and Michigan—compete with each other on a regular basis. Many students apply to all three schools. And all three schools tend to admit the same type of go-getter, ambitious, and a bit more pre-professionally focused student.READ MORE: 10 Things to Know If You Want to Major in Business
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Michigan doesn't just want to be popular with applicants; it wants to be desirable among admitted students. Early Decision could be the answer for Michigan. However, it will need to do things differently. For years, many have accused Michigan of not being able to get through all of its Early Action applications before announcing admissions decisions, forcing it to "postpone" thousands of students' applications. Yesterday's announcement indicated ED applicants would receive a decision by the end of December. Let's hope the Michigan Admissions Office is able to deliver and that they fully read every application they receive in the time period they have promised.
Private colleges aren't the only ones that run like businesses. Public colleges are being just as strategic as their private college counterparts. Michigan is making its move with offering Early Decision this year. Watch out USC, Penn, and other colleges. Michigan is coming for you.
