<p>
According to an article a while back in Atlantic Monthly, this was a result of deliberate actions by the Penn administration including calculated use of Early Decision. See [The</a> Early-Decision Racket - The Atlantic](<a href=“http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/the-early-decision-racket/2280/]The”>The Early-Decision Racket - The Atlantic)</p>