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<p>Mr. Lucido said the key in changing Chapel Hill's policy was institutional data revealing that early-decision was not serving low-income and minority students. "Part of the ability for a college to make this move is to have folks in high leadership positions know that this is the right thing to do," Mr. Lucido said, "to move away from chasing a ranking to a position that is clearly more equitable." </p>
<p>Mr. Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions, said that dropping early-admission would allow him and his staff to travel more widely and recruit a more diverse pool of applicants, particularly those from parts of the country that lacked "a Harvard tradition." </p>
<p>Harvard stopped short of making a permanent commitment to its new admissions policy, however. In a written statement announcing the change, Harvard officials said they planned to monitor the effect of dropping early decision over the next two or three years, "to make sure that it does not have a negative impact on student quality."</p>