Last Tuesday I stood on the sideline of a U10 scrimmage and watched one of my players stop dead in the middle of a fast break to ask me if the offside rule counted at his age. It didn’t. It never had. But somebody’s dad had mentioned at practice that “the rules were changing this year,” and now this kid was so busy guessing what game he was supposed to be playing that he forgot to play the one right in front of him. He got tackled. Ball gone. Fast break over.
I’ve coached kids from five years old through varsity for most of my adult life, and I see some version of this every single season. A rule shifts — or a rumor about a rule shifts — and half my players spend the next three practices defending against a threat that doesn’t exist instead of just playing their game.
Sound familiar? It should, because it’s exactly what happens in college admissions every time a headline breaks. A school changes a testing policy and suddenly every parent in a group chat is convinced their freshman needs an SAT tutor tomorrow. A bill gets introduced in the Senate and everyone assumes it’s already law. So let’s slow down and actually look at what changed this week — because some of it matters quite a bit, and none of it should send you sprinting in the wrong direction.
At a Glance: This Week’s Four Headlines
- Vanderbilt brings back the SAT/ACT for fall 2029 applicants — and retires its flagship Chancellor’s Scholarship
- A bipartisan group of senators introduces a bill to ban legacy and donor admissions preferences nationwide
- The 2026-27 FAFSA launches earlier than ever — while a new endowment tax squeezes tuition and aid budgets
- The 2026 U.S. News rankings hold remarkably steady at the top — Princeton, MIT, and Harvard still lead
Testing Rules Are Shifting Again
Vanderbilt just ended an eight-year test-optional run. Starting with fall 2029 applicants — today’s current 9th graders — the university will require SAT or ACT scores again. It joins Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, and Cornell, all of whom have reinstated testing over the last two admissions cycles. Columbia and Princeton, meanwhile, are holding the line on test-optional policies for now. Vanderbilt also confirmed its Chancellor’s Scholarship, one of its most recognized merit awards, will be phased out after the 2027-2028 cycle and folded into the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship. Current scholars are unaffected.
“The rules didn’t change because your student did something wrong. They changed because the people writing them are guessing too.”
Legacy Admissions Faces a Bipartisan Challenge
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators — Republicans and Democrats alike — introduced legislation this week that would prohibit colleges from giving preferential treatment to legacy or donor applicants, with a school’s accreditation on the line for noncompliance. It follows state-level bans already in effect in Virginia, California, Colorado, Illinois, and Maryland. I write about this exact dynamic in Entering the Arena: too many families spend years chasing the same “weapons” — the same activities, the same connections, the same shortcuts — instead of building an application around who their student actually is. Legacy status was always one of those shortcuts. It looks like this one is running out of road.
FAFSA Opens Early, Tuition Bills Rise
The 2026-27 FAFSA launched earlier than at any point in the program’s history, and families can now see their Student Aid Index and Pell Grant eligibility in real time — a real improvement over the delays of recent years. The catch is on the other side of the ledger. A new federal endowment tax, now tiered as high as 8% for the wealthiest schools, is squeezing university budgets. Penn’s trustees already approved a 3.9% tuition increase for 2026-27, citing the tax among other pressures, and experts warn more schools will raise tuition or trim financial aid to absorb the hit.
“Legacy admissions never measured merit. It measured mail.”
Rankings Hold Steady — Don’t Get Too Comfortable
The 2026 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, covering more than 1,700 institutions, show remarkable stability at the top: Princeton leads National Universities, with MIT and Harvard close behind, and Williams still tops the Liberal Arts Colleges list. UC Berkeley edged past UCLA for the top public university spot. The methodology now weights student outcomes — graduation rates, alumni earnings, debt levels, and social mobility — at 52% of the overall score, more than reputation, resources, or selectivity combined.
What to Do This Week
None of this week’s news should send you into a panic, and none of it should send you into a shrug either. Every one of these stories is a small adjustment to the rules of the game — not a reason to abandon your student’s game plan. Parents: stay informed, but don’t let a headline talk you into micromanaging a process your student needs to own. Students: the rules will keep shifting under you for the next two years. Learn to plant your feet anyway.
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