THE IMPACT OF THE MERGER OF THE OFFICES OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AIDS AT HARVARD AND RADCLIFFE COLLEGES

The governing authorities of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges officially accepted, in July 1975, a controversial and debated proposal calling for the merger of the Offices of Admissions and Financial Aids and the adoption of a policy of equal access admissions for all undergraduates. This inaugurated a new approach in the selection and funding of men and women at the two institutions. The research presented in this study focuses on the impact of that decision on the composition of the undergraduate student body and its influence on the alteration of the institutional mission of Radcliffe.;The graduating classes of 1979 (admissions year 1975), 1976 (admissions year 1972), and 1972 (admissions year 1968) were reviewed prior to merger. This design provided data at intervals of one year, three years, and seven years, respectively, before merger. Furthermore, data were examined after merger at intervals of one year and four years by reviewing the classes of 1980 (admissions year 1976) and 1983 (admissions year 1979).;These data were gathered principally through primary sources including the official departmental records of the Offices of Admissions and Financial Aids at both Harvard and Radcliffe. The methodology also encompassed a large representation of secondary sources and subject interviews.;The impact of the merger was profound. It brought the two institutions closer to incorporation as a single, coeducational college. It influenced a significant change in the institutional focus of Radcliffe by, for all practical purposes, servering it from the responsibilities of being an institution primarily for undergraduate women. It modified the composition of the student body at one of America's most respected and venerable institutions. And the resulting process of selection emerged in the form of an expanded, albeit slightly modified, Harvard College model.;Data were presented to demonstrate in what particular ways merger made a difference in the nature of undergraduate students of Harvard University. This was accomplished by assessing four criteria: the absolute number of women undergraduates applying, admitted, and matriculating, the academic profile of the women admitted and matriculating as measured by the variables of rank in class (high school grades) and median Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the geographic distribution of admitted and matriculating women undergraduates, and the economic profile of matriculating female financial aid candidates. These data were then compared to those of men in each category.;It may now be evident that an important factor in Radcliffe's push for an equal access admissions policy was the freeing of its resources from the burden of undergraduate demands. As a result, contemporary Radcliffe is an institution much different from the one known through its first century.;The effect was felt less dramatically by Harvard College. Put briefly, there was a loss of some male members in an entering class, a slight change in the distribution of concentrations (academic majors), the expenditure of more financial aid funds, a temporarily inflated professional staff, and a larger than normal Faculty of Arts and Sciences budget for admissions.;In addition to increasing the total number of undergraduate women, the policy of equal access pervadingly affected the very nature of the Harvard and Radcliffe student body. Not only was the geographic base broadened, but the range of family backgrounds, races, and economic profiles was expanded. Moreover, at Radcliffe, the long-standing reliance on the standardized aptitude test (particularly verbal) as the compelling admissions criterion began to wane.;But, as argued throughout the paper, perhaps the most enduring outcome of the merger decision will be the commitment Harvard has made, which goes beyond any previous obligation, to promote and foster equal educational opportunity for undergraduate women.