High schools across the country are resisting demands from hundreds of colleges to disclose students' criminal and disciplinary records on applications, worried that minor offenses could stigmatize applicants as troublemakers and keep them from being accepted.
While some colleges have asked about student conduct for decades, hundreds are now seeking the information through the common application accepted by 315 schools. For the first time last year, the form added questions for students and guidance counselors about whether applicants have ever been punished for academic or behavioral misconduct that led to probation, suspension, removal, dismissal, or expulsion. It also asks whether they have been convicted of a crime.
"I want to help the colleges, but I want to make sure we help our students in any way we can . . . Our first allegiance is to the students," said Jim Montague, director of guidance counseling at Boston Latin School, which leaves disciplinary questions blank on the application but will answer them if college officials inquire directly.
Some educators and school lawyers say high schools' allegiance to students could work against them, if colleges decide to give preference to students whose counselors were willing to be more open.
Nationally, less than a quarter of high schools disclose such information to colleges, according to a survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling conducted last spring, after high schools were confronted with the new questions.
Many colleges criticize high schools for avoiding the questions, saying they need to know as much as possible about students' academic records and behavior amid heightened concern over campus safety following last spring's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.
"It should be a different landscape for [high] schools," said Marlyn McGrath, director of admissions at Harvard College, which uses the common application. "They have been reminded that they might be considered responsible."
Harvard, which asked questions on its forms about student conduct before the subject was added to the common application, contacts high schools for the information if suspicions arise about a particular applicant, which happens in rare cases, McGrath said.
In April, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech, underscoring for some college administrators the need to know about high school students' troubled pasts. High school counselors said they had advised Cho, who had a history of emotional problems, not to apply to a college like Virginia Tech because he would not function well in a large setting, information that many college officials believe should have been shared as Cho applied to schools.
College admissions officers say high schools should trust that disciplinary records will be used as just one piece of information to evaluate whether applicants would thrive on campus. And even some high school counselors say students could actually help their chances with a college if they can show how they grew after dealing with a disciplinary problem.
College officials, who do not keep track of how many students are denied admission solely because of a conduct issue, emphasized that they consider each situation individually.
"There seems to be this underlying current that colleges and universities are asking these questions because we're looking for reasons to not admit students. That's not the case," said Kelly Walter, executive director of admissions at Boston University.
BU puts the onus on students to answer the questions and does not follow up with counselors who leave them blank, Walter said. Colleges will not hold a minor transgression, such as smoking in the bathroom or skipping class, against an applicant, but would likely reject someone with a major offense such as academic dishonesty or criminal behavior, Walter said. Students who hacked into a school computer system to cheat on exams, for example, would not make the cut, she said.
Colleges primarily want openness, said Kevin Kelly, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which like BU pushes students, but not high schools, to answer the questions if they are left unanswered.
"I wish everybody would share everything," Kelly said.
Pomona College, a highly selective private college outside of Los Angeles, takes one of the toughest stances: It stops considering a student if a high school leaves questions blank about behavior and then refuses to provide the information when Pomona asks directly.
College officials said they get the most cooperation from private schools, particularly boarding schools that face the same concerns as colleges about students' ability to live among their peers. Officials at Milton Academy and Concord Academy said they have long advised students that disciplinary actions become part of their records and college applications.
Students can even enhance their application if they can show in writing how they grew after getting into trouble, said Peter Jennings, Concord's director of college counseling. "If anything, it gives the colleges a sense of who the kids are, and how they react to a situation," Jennings said. Some counselors from high schools that do provide disciplinary information said they also see the exercise as a way to teach students that they face consequences for bad behavior.
Counselors who do not answer the questions say they need more legal guidance to ensure they are not violating laws governing students' right to privacy. Massachusetts requires high schools to get consent from students or parents before releasing disciplinary records. But the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act allows schools to provide the information to colleges without release forms, a federal education official said.
"This is a very sticky area," said Brad MacGowan, a guidance counselor at Newton North High School, which leaves the questions blank. "It's not the counselors' responsibility to police this situation."
A Boston lawyer who specializes in education law said counselors can avoid violating students' right to privacy and still cooperate with colleges. To comply with Massachusetts rules, counselors should ask parents or students to sign a form saying the school can release all records to colleges, said Edward Lenox, of the law firm of Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, which represents more than 150 school systems in Massachusetts.
The firm advises schools to answer the disciplinary questions, Lenox said. "Colleges may well conclude that it's left blank because there is some incriminating information regarding the student," he said.
Framingham High School leaves such questions blank because of its fears students will be unfairly judged. But it's likely that debate about the topic could lead to a change, said Richard Walcek, the school's head guidance counselor. "It is in the public discourse right now. It is confronting all of us," Walcek said. A half dozen college-bound seniors at Framingham High School had mixed views. Some sided with their school's decision not to reveal misconduct.
"It's unnecessary," said Rich Tsai, 17. "The question is there to create a bias."
Others thought counselors should answer the questions partly to protect others in college.
"It helps my chances because I haven't been in trouble," said Julie Moran, 17. "I don't want to be in a college with people who've brought knives and guns to school."
