Law & Courts

Colleges

March 07, 2001 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Admissions and Race: Colleges and universities use racial preferences in admissions far more extensively than previously acknowledged, a report contends, and the practice contributes to achievement gaps.

“Pervasive Preferences: Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in Undergraduate Admissions Across the Nation” examines admissions data—including SAT scores and students’ high school grades—at 47 institutions. It was released Feb. 22 by the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Washington-based organization that opposes affirmative action.

The schools in the report, including the University of California, Berkley, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, were selected to represent a cross section of four-year institutions.

The report’s authors, Robert Lerner and Althea K. Nagai, consultants from Chevy Chase, Md., used statistical analysis to predict the probability of gaining admission to each school for various racial and ethnic groups. Some institutions and researchers challenged a similar report released by the center several years ago because it used the same, highly controversial statistical method.

Selective schools, according to the report, take race, and to a lesser extent, ethnicity, into greater account than do lower-tier schools. The study shows that the relative odds favoring black over white students were 177-to-1 at North Carolina State University, for example, and 111-to-1 at the University of Virginia.

Three-fourths of the schools studied gave a substantial preference to African-American students, the study found. About two-fifths gave similar preferences to Hispanic students, the report says.

Three schools—the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—had odds that moderately favored whites over Hispanics. Ten schools favored Hispanics over whites, and another 10 schools did not give a statistically significant preference to Hispanics.

“By their very nature, racial-preference policies lead to individuals from the ‘right’ racial and ethnic groups with weaker academic qualifications being selected for admissions,” the report argues.

“In effect, then, as colleges and universities deliberately employ preferential policies to increase the number of black and Hispanic [students],” it adds, “they are widening the black-white test-score gap among students at their own institutions.”

—John Gehring

A version of this article appeared in the March 07, 2001 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
Creating Resilient Schools with a Trauma-Responsive MTSS
Join us to learn how school leaders are building a trauma-responsive MTSS to support students & improve school outcomes.
School & District Management Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: We Can’t Engage Students If They Aren’t Here: Strategies to Address the Absenteeism Conundrum
Absenteeism rates are growing fast. Join Peter DeWitt and experts to learn how to re-engage students & families.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Groups Sue Over Trump's Cuts to Education Department Research Arm
This suit seeks the restoration of Institute of Education Sciences staff and contracts abruptly canceled by the Trump administration.
3 min read
Supporters gather outside the U.S. Department of Education in Washington to applaud Education Department employees as they depart their offices for the final time on Friday, March 28, 2025. The rally brought together education supporters, students, parents, and former employees to honor the departing staff as they arrived in 30-minute intervals to collect their belongings.
Supporters gather outside the U.S. Department of Education in Washington to applaud Education Department employees as they depart their offices for the final time on Friday, March 28, 2025. Two organizations representing researchers are suing the department in an attempt to restore the agency's data and research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences.
Moriah Ratner for Education Week
Law & Courts Supreme Court Appears Unlikely to Strike Down School E-Rate Program
The Supreme Court seems unlikely to strike down the E-rate program, though some justices questioned its funding structure and oversight.
5 min read
The Supreme Court in Washington, June 30, 2024.
The U.S. Supreme Court considers a major challenge to the E-rate program for school internet connections on March 26.
Susan Walsh/AP
Law & Courts Trump Asks Supreme Court for OK to Move Ahead With Deep Teacher-Training Cuts
The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to cut hundreds of millions of dollars for teacher training.
2 min read
President Donald Trump, left, holds up a signed executive order as young people hold up copies of the executive order they signed at an education event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025.
President Donald Trump, left, holds up a signed executive order as young people hold up copies of the executive order they signed at an education event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 20, 2025. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to permit the cut of funding for teacher training programs.
Ben Curtis/AP
Law & Courts See All the Lawsuits Filed Over Trump's Education Policies
Here’s a look at the moves that have drawn litigation, and where the complaints stand.
4 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump Tower, Friday, Sept., 6, 2024 in New York.
Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump Tower on Sept. 6, 2024 in New York. His education actions since returning to the White House in January 2025 have drawn numerous lawsuits alleging he's overstepping his authority.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP