College Deposit Pressure

Calreader
Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:23:17 +0000

The NACAC are guidelines. They aren’t laws.

The NACAC principles of good practice are organized into two sections, mandatory and recommended. The one I quoted at the beginning of the thread, about it not being okay for colleges to use housing deposits to manipulate commitments, is in the mandatory section.

Some colleges are not members of NACAC, which means they have not agreed to follow NACAC’s mandatory principles. For example, I was surprised a couple of years ago to learn that Sacramento State University does not prepare financial aid packages for students until after May 1, when they have already sent in their deposit. When I called to ask about it, they said it’s too much work to do it for everyone and they don’t have the resources. I called NACAC and learned that CSU Sacramento is not a member, though most other CSU’s are. This was two years ago, so the situation may have changed by now.

If one of the colleges being cited here is a member of NACAC and is violating one of the mandatory principles, I think it would be a good idea to talk with someone at NACAC about it. I’m sure they would like to know, and they might even be able to do something to help.