Early Decision and Early Action?

I recently encouraged a student to apply to the University of Santa Clara. I love the school. It is one of the Big Three in the San Francisco Bay Area (the two titans are, of course, UC Berkeley and Stanford). One thing that I found interesting about Santa Clara is that they offer both Early Decision and Early Action.

Huh?

Early Decision at Santa Clara means that if they accept you, you say yes or no and that decision is final. If you say yes, you are at that moment a member of next year's Freshman Class. Early Action means you get an answer early, but it is not restrictive. You can still wait to see how all of your other applications did.

I've been a long-time opponent of restrictive Early Decision. It benefits exactly one party: the college or university. They fill one of their freshman slots. It makes the college’s life easier. The student, in contrast, pulls all his or her applications and never knows what other schools might have come through and more importantly, how other financial aid offers might have compared.

I love Santa Clara, but this incredible institution should take the hint from its rival across the Bay at Stanford: get rid of restrictive Early Decision and make your early acceptance scheme purely non-binding.