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Ethical Recruiting and Admission Practice

The Cooper Union is committed to ethical recruitment practices. This policy is based in part on the values and guiding principles laid out in the “Guide to Ethical Practice in College Admission” as articulated by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and complies with the Higher Learning Commission’s Policy on Recruiting, Admission, and Related Enrollment Practices (FDCR.A.20.020). Our work is guided by principles of honesty, integrity, transparency, equity, and respect for students and fellow professionals. These values guide us in our service to students and families, our institutions, society and each other” (NACAC, 2026).

I. Cooper Union abides by NACAC CORE VALUES
  • Education
    We believe in and are committed to educating students, their families, the public, fellow education professionals, and ourselves about the transition to and within postsecondary education.
  • Access
    We believe we should strive to increase access and eliminate from the education system bias based on race, ethnicity, religion or creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, political affiliation, national origin, or disability. We view this as fundamental to our responsibility as educators.
  • Professionalism
    We believe that ethical behavior is the foundation of the counseling, admission, and enrollment management profession. We are responsible for the integrity of our actions and, insofar as we can affect them, the actions of our member institutions, organizations, and individuals.
  • Collegiality
    We believe members should conduct dialogue with openness to differences, listening to various perspectives from a place of support and understanding. Members should strive to disagree without being abusive or demeaning.
  • Collaboration
    We believe the effectiveness of our profession—college counseling, admission, and enrollment management—is enhanced when we work together to advocate for students and their best interests.
  • Trust
    We believe our profession is based upon trust and honesty with one another and with students.
  • Social Responsibility
    We believe we have a duty to create a society that is free from biases for our colleagues and the students we serve. 
II. NACAC Guiding Principles and Rationale 

The Cooper Union has adopted the guiding principles and rationale advanced by NACAC, truthfulness and transparency; professional conduct; and transparency in this Code of Conduct.

Truthfulness and Transparency: All faculty and staff involved in the recruitment of prospective students will ensure that all students are able to make informed decisions by providing comprehensive and accurate information. This includes, but is not limited to: 

  • Accurately describing, representing, and promoting Cooper Union’s programs and services to students and the public. Anyone involved in the recruiting process should never misrepresent themselves or The Cooper Union.
  • Sharing information relevant to the Cooper Union’s enrollment process that is accurate, up-to-date, and free from misrepresentations of fact or material omissions.
  • Not disseminating inaccurate, misleading or disparaging information about other secondary schools, colleges, organizations, or individual professionals.
  • Ensuring that alumni/ae representatives and interviewers, third-party agents, vendors and other representatives working on Cooper Union’s behalf follow these same ethical principles of the profession.
  • If publishing translations, ensure they fully and accurately reflect the meaning of the text in the original language.
  • Promote ethical practices in relation to the use of artificial intelligence (AI). NACAC encourages continued learning and collaboration to ensure that any use of AI in counseling and admission aligns with the shared values of transparency, integrity, fairness, and respect for student dignity. 

Cooper Union’s marketing and admission materials will provide comprehensive, accurate, and current information concerning: 

  • All deadlines for topics that impact students directly, including admission, scholarships, financial aid, and housing.
  • Factors considered in making admission, financial aid, and scholarship decisions, as well as other institutional factors, including cancellation of offerings (department, major, minor, or concentrations), changes in enrollment size, alternative enrollment programs to support all parties in clearly understanding expectations, and eligibility criteria.  
  • Academic program areas including majors and programs like Study Abroad.
  • Student housing information, including availability, requirements, and costs for the first and subsequent years.
  • Cost of attendance, types of scholarships, and other financial aid.
  • Student support and student life activities.  
  • Significant changes to institutional policies and procedures due to pandemics, severe weather, or other extraordinary circumstances.
  • Any requirements regarding the submission of transcripts for all schools attended and all coursework taken, submission of updated first term or midyear grades, submission of any required standardized test scores, use of any predicted grades, changes in student enrollment status or coursework, and any reporting expectations around disciplinary actions. 

The Cooper Union will not use marketing incentives to induce or pressure prospective students to enroll by specific deadlines. It will also not use incentives such as prizes, free goods or services, or quid pro quo offers involving financial aid, institutional discounts or waiving fees to pressure students to enroll.

  • Marketing materials will not contain promises or guarantees of employment or pay in relation to program outcomes. Materials may include expected job titles, opportunity outlook, and employment information as reported in recent Career Services Reports as long as the information is not presented as a guaranteed outcome. 

Additionally, The Cooper Union will provide accurate and comprehensive school profile data whenever, and wherever it is required. This includes:

  • Ensuring data reported on school profiles and other documents is accurate and current.
  • Providing transparency about when data was collected, and the groups included or excluded from the data. 
III. NACAC Guidance for Professional Conduct 

The primary ethical responsibility of all faculty and staff involved in the recruitment of prospective students is to advocate for students’ best interest in the admissions process. Interactions with students should encourage a high level of trust. Conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, undermine trust and should be reported to the Executive Director of Admission.   

The Cooper Union will provide college admission counseling that puts students first by: 

  • Providing guidance and information to help students determine their best academic, personal, and financial college match.
  • Educating students and families of their ethical responsibilities in the admission process, including counseling students that it is unethical to plagiarize official documents or applications, or fail to notify colleges in cases where they decided to decline their offers of admission.
  • Abstaining from the use of any high-pressure tactics, including making multiple unsolicited contacts (more than three a day) and engaging in same-day recruitment and registration.
  • Admission personnel will have appropriate education, job titles, and training for their role and are required to adhere to this Code of Conduct.
  • Admission personnel will avoid Conflict of Interest and the appearance of unethical behavior: 
    • They will not be compensated by commissions, bonuses or other incentive payments based on the number of students referred, recruited, admitted or enrolled.
    • They will not offer or accept any reward or remuneration to influence an admission, housing, scholarship, financial aid or enrollment decision. 

The Cooper Union and its employees will maintain a culture of collaboration and collegiality and will not disseminate inaccurate, misleading, or disparaging information about other secondary schools, colleges, organizations, or individual professionals. 

IV. Confidentiality 

All faculty and staff at The Cooper Union are expected to maintain a high level of confidentiality. This includes protecting the confidentiality of all information shared; adhering to all Cooper Union policies with respect to confidentiality and privacy and keeping confident a prospective student’s status in relation to application, acceptance, financial aid, or scholarship offers.  

Cooper Union staff will:

  • Send and receive information about candidates in confidence and protect the confidentiality of all information shared.  This is in keeping with Cooper Union’s policies on privacy.
  • Reasonably protect the student's data privacy across all platforms, applications and technologies and ensure transparency in data collection, sharing and usage in compliance with local and national laws.
  • Not divulge in an individual student’s college application status, admission, enrollment, or financial aid and scholarship offers without express permission from the student.
  • Not ask candidates, their counselors, their schools, or others to divulge or rank order their college preferences on applications or other documents.
V. Implementation 

A presentation is delivered annually to all faculty and staff participating in admission review and decision making, including faculty; the admission, student financial services, and office of the registrar staff; and IT and systems managers. Links to this policy, the NACAC Guide to Ethical Practice in College Admission and consumer policies will be announced in Cooper Connect and posted to the footer of the college website. This policy will be maintained in Cooper Union’s policy archive.  

Enrollment Leaders will address the tenets of this policy annually and in advance of the recruitment cycle.  Meeting discussion will include Enrollment Managers, Admission team, Marketing Team, and Student Financial Services team, where case scenarios and discussion can be pursued.  

  • The Ethical Code of Conduct document will be given to all new hires in the Enrollment Division along with a targeted meeting with Q/A time to make sure there is complete understanding.  
  • The Cooper Union expects all external partners, and anyone engaging in shared recruiting or participates in any portion of the recruiting practice to adhere to the standards set forth in its policy and makes the document a part of all memorandums of understandings or external agreements.

To support this policy, Cooper Union  

VI. Complaints 

Students can file concerns or complaints: 

State and Federal Contacts:  

The Cooper Union’s Institutional Accreditor:

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.