Harvard’s Drop of Early Admissions Fuels National Debate

Spurred by a desire to make its undergraduate admissions process more fair for disadvantaged students, Harvard University announced last week that it plans to eliminate its early- admission program, which allowed some students to find out whether they were accepted several months before others.

The decision, announced Sept. 12, is also intended to motivate students to continue excelling in their high school courses during senior year, and take some pressure off an increasingly frenzied process, Harvard officials said.

The process of getting into college has become “too complex,” Harvard’s interim president, Derek Bok, said in a statement. “Students from more sophisticated backgrounds often apply early to increase their chances of admission,” he said, “while minority students and students from rural areas, other countries, and high schools with...