Guiding principles

Since 1975, Common App has strived to remove barriers, to reduce the stress and burdens on students and their families from multiple college applications, and to create greater access to higher education opportunities for all students by creating and innovating a single, shared application for college admission.

Today, students can use the Common App to apply to over 1,000 colleges and universities.  As the application evolved over time from a paper application to online, the core of Common App’s principles has never changed – promoting access, equity, and integrity, in the college admissions process for all students.  Intrinsic to these principles is the promotion of fair, transparent, straightforward, and consistent practices in admissions.

At Common App, we know that the admissions process is one based on trust among students, counselors, teachers and our members.  Students need to have comfort that the rules for applying to college remain consistent and have their best interests in mind.  To support these values, through careful considerations of the comments and needs of our key constituents – students, teachers, college admissions counselors, parents, and the colleges themselves – as well as professional organizations and both federal and state guidance, Common App has developed the following principles, the focus of which is in the best interest of the student, to continue to forge a direct, unambiguous path to higher education for all.  Therefore, as a member of Common App, you agree to abide by and uphold our principles within the application:

• Members are committed to Common App’s mission of the pursuit of access, equality, and integrity in the college admission process
• Members will strive to accurately represent their admission process to applicants
• Members should be transparent in their admission requirements for new and for transfer students
• Members will consider Common App Fee Waiver requests for Applicants who are US citizens and Permanent Residents in accordance with their institution’s financial guidelines and resources
• Members of Common App will avoid asking questions on our Member Screen if those questions also appear on Common App to reduce burdens on applicants

Additionally, in the interest of students and their families, to assist in ease of use, and in the spirit of fairness, consistency, and widely accepted definitions and practices currently used in college applications

1. Common App will not support an application deadline for first-year fall admission that is earlier than October 15

2. Common App will not support questions that ask applicants to list or rank schools to which they are applying

3. Common App will support only the following decision plans: Regular Decision, Rolling Decision, Early Decision (I and II), Early Action (I and II), and Restrictive/Single Choice Early Action.  The widely accepted definitions of these plans may be found here

4. Common App will not support multiple Early Decision (ED) applications from applicants, with the exception of an ED II application

5. Common App will not support questions that are prohibited by federal or state law (e.g., marital status, disability) unless the member can provide a legal exemption to do so.

Colleges are of course free to support other practices outside the Common App, but the Common App works to support practices that have been found to be easy to administer and understand for hundreds of colleges and millions of applicants over the years.