What role should social class play in admissions?

Colleges tread carefully as race becomes admissions essays focus

After affirmative action ban, campuses prod students to describe their personal backgrounds, without going so far as to potentially encourage legal action

By Paul Basken

11 January

Protest at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 1, 2023. The US Supreme Court on June 27 banned the use of race and ethnicity in university admissions as described in the article

Legacy admissions face challenge after affirmative action ban

Echoing conservative Supreme Court, coalition of advocacy groups formally demands end to Harvard’s admissions preferences for relatives of alumni

By Paul Basken

14 July

Universities ‘overreaching’ in response to affirmative action ban

Institutions enact policies that go beyond court ruling due to abundance of caution or as part of ‘politically motivated agendas’

By Liam Knox for Inside Higher Ed

7 August

A human pyramid, symbolising affirmative action

Supporters must bear some blame for affirmative action’s tragic reversal

The biggest step backwards over the last 50 years was supporters’ retreat from equal opportunity to a focus on ill-defined ‘diversity’, says Harvey Graff

By Harvey J. Graff

16 July

Reader's comments (1)

#1 Submitted by bursar@... on January 11, 2024 - 2:03pm

US Us - or rather the elite private end of US HE - can’t regain any political credibility and begin to fend off growing criticism from various directions until/unless: 1) the abuse of legacy admissions is ended; and 2) there is a rebalancing of the priorities for expenditure on student aid v faculty remuneration v administrative bloat v glitzy infrastructure projects.

What role should social class play in admissions?

A socio-economic alternative to affirmative action would be expensive but that doesn’t mean institutions shouldn’t consider it, say experts

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Colleges tread carefully as race becomes admissions essays focus

Legacy admissions face challenge after affirmative action ban

Universities ‘overreaching’ in response to affirmative action ban

Supporters must bear some blame for affirmative action’s tragic reversal

Reader's comments (1)

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What role should social class play in admissions?

A socio-economic alternative to affirmative action would be expensive but that doesn’t mean institutions shouldn’t consider it, say experts

Register to continue

Subscribe

Related articles

Colleges tread carefully as race becomes admissions essays focus

Legacy admissions face challenge after affirmative action ban

Universities ‘overreaching’ in response to affirmative action ban

Supporters must bear some blame for affirmative action’s tragic reversal

Reader's comments (1)

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