Last week at soccer practice, a kid on my team who had just turned six asked me the score. We weren’t playing a game. We were doing passing drills with cones. He wanted to know who was winning anyway. I laughed, and then I thought about every senior I’ll talk to this fall, and every parent hovering behind them. Somewhere along the way we taught kids that everything is a scoreboard, even the cones.
College admissions news works the same way. Every week there is a new number, a new ranking and a new headline, and it’s easy to feel like you’re losing a game you didn’t know you were in. So here’s my job this week: tell you what actually changed, and what you should do about it. Parents, this is for you. Students, this is for you too. Read it together.
At a Glance
- FAFSA 2027–28 is open and uses 2025 tax info, so families can file now.
- MIT is No. 1 in the new U.S. News rankings, ending Princeton’s 15-year run.
- The Early Decision lawsuit is moving into discovery, but this year’s strategy doesn’t change.
- Title IX rules changed as the Education Department rescinded the 2024 version.
FAFSA Opened Early. Use It.
The 2027–28 FAFSA is open. Reports differ slightly on the exact day, with some citing September 23 and others October 1, but the point is the same: the form is live, and it uses 2025 tax information. You do not need to wait for next year’s returns. The CSS Profile, which many private colleges require, opened October 1.
Here’s the part families miss. Some colleges award their own money on a first-come basis. Filing in October instead of February can change what’s left in the pot. The first step trips up more people than the form itself: both the student and the parent need their own StudentAid.gov accounts. Set those up this week. And please remember the Student Aid Index is not a bill. It’s a formula for eligibility.
“A few spots up or down is noise. A change in what gets measured is signal.”
MIT Takes the Top Spot
U.S. News released its 2027 Best Colleges list on September 22. MIT is first, Princeton second and Harvard third, and Princeton’s 15-year hold on No. 1 is over. Caltech jumped six spots to tie Stanford at fifth. If that’s the only part you read, you missed the useful part.
The formula leans harder on outcomes. They now make up more than half of a school’s score, and a new measure looks at graduate earnings by major. That tells you where the industry is heading: families want proof of return. It’s a fair question. It’s also a reason to look at the specific program your student will enter, not the logo on the sweatshirt.
The Early Decision Lawsuit Moves Ahead
In August, a federal judge let an antitrust lawsuit against 32 selective colleges move into discovery. The suit claims the colleges coordinated around Early Decision. Let me be clear about what this is: a judge said the claim is plausible enough to continue. It is not a finding that anyone did anything wrong, and claims against Common App and the Consortium itself were dismissed.
For this fall, nothing about how you apply changes. Early Decision still carries a real statistical advantage at many schools, and it is still a serious commitment. Apply ED only to a school that is truly your first choice and whose net price your family can handle. Parents, have that money conversation before the button gets clicked, not after.
Title IX, Visas and the Bigger Legal Picture
On September 28, the Education Department rescinded the 2024 Title IX rule and reinstated the 2020 framework. Campus policies and grievance procedures may shift as schools adjust, so it’s a fair question to ask on a campus visit. Litigation over race-conscious admissions also continues, including a hearing on October 20 in a case against UCLA’s medical school.
And a quiet signal from graduate admissions: Columbia’s journalism school paused its M.A. program for a year, with visa policy reportedly a factor. If your family includes international students, keep an eye on how visa rules affect the schools on your list.
“Colleges are not getting harder to understand. They’re getting louder.”
What to Do This Week
Want help sorting out what matters for your student?
I work with students in grades 8–12 and their families, and I’ll tell you honestly where to focus.
Let’s TalkThe six-year-old on my team never did get an answer about who was winning. I told him the point of the cones was to get better at passing. He looked at me like I was a little crazy, and then he went back to passing. There’s a lesson in that for all of us, parents and students alike.
— Chris Parsons, College Planning Center
Carpe diem.
