“What it did was to let them boost the perceived selectivity of the college and to redeploy the financial aid budget more efficiently, while screwing over a lot of students of the sort marlowe1 waxes poetic about. It wasn’t personal, it was just business. But it wasn’t about improving the educational experience by keeping out the Ivy riffraff.”
Um, not quite sure what “Ivy riffraff” is, but what ED might do is help keep out those who wouldn’t be happy there. And if they aren’t happy, they aren’t likely to stay connected to the university over the long-haul. Universities benefit from their alumnae network, and UChicago could use a much stronger one. Clearly there are UChicago Types admitted in all the rounds; but a good number do apply binding, as UChicago found out the first year they introduced ED.