The Common Application will no longer ask applicants for their disciplinary history starting the 2021-22 application cycle, citing the disproportionate impact of school discipline on students of color.

After conducting their own research, the most widely used college application tool in the country found that students who disclose a disciplinary history are less likely to submit their college application.

Common App data from 2019 showed that among applicants who did not report a disciplinary history, only 12 percent did not submit their application. That number rose to 22 percent among students who did report a disciplinary history. More than 7,000 students who declared a disciplinary history do not hit ‘send’ on their application.

Jenny Rickard, president and CEO of Common App, said there is mounting evidence that students of color, particularly Black students, are disciplined at disproportionate rates. Common App research found Black applicants are more than twice as likely to report a disciplinary record than their White peers.

Black and Latinx students make up 52 percent of the 7,000 students who declare a record and do not submit their application, but they only make up 27 percent of all applicants.

After years of consideration, Rickard said the Common App expedited their decision after a summer of racial reckoning and further analysis of application data.

SESP sophomore Pablo Rodriguez said he agrees with the decision but thinks there should be further reform by removing standardized tests from the admissions process. He said Black and brown students receive harsher punishments that create a cycle of distrust between the student and school authorities.

“They start losing trust in the system because the system is failing them so they continue to get in trouble,” Rodriguez said.

Rickard said the question about disciplinary records also highlights economic disparities, which some schools choose to not disclose. Common App research found that Black, Latinx, American Indian and first-generation applicants tend to come from high schools that do disclose their disciplinary records.
Although the question will not be on the standard portion of the Common App, the more than 900 member schools, including all eight Ivy League universities, have the option to add a school disciplinary question to their supplementary application.

According to Rickard, after a 2018 decision to remove a criminal history question from the Common App, about 50 percent of member schools added the question back into their supplemental application.

University spokesperson Jon Yates said there are no plans to add a disciplinary question to Northwestern’s application in 2021, but admissions added a criminal history question when the Common App removed it from the general application in 2019.

“Our holistic review process considers every piece of an application — including this school disciplinary history question — in context, and as just one component of the application as a whole,” Yates said.

In addition to the school discipline question, the School Report, a portion typically filled out by high school counselors detailing the students academic history, will also be removed beginning in the 2021-22 application season because the differing policies between school districts prevents some counselors from disclosing a student’s disciplinary history.

A statement on the Common App website said the move is a step toward creating a more equitable admissions process and a more just economy.

“We want our application to allow students to highlight their full potential,” Rickard said. “This is about taking a stand against practices that suppress college-going aspiration and overshadow potential.”

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