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
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
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
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

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 After 50 Years, a U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Educational Equity Is Still Debated
In a school finance case from Texas, the justices held that the wealth of districts was not subject to extra constitutional scrutiny.
12 min read
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, on Oct. 18, 2018.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, on Oct. 18, 2018.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo
Law & Courts Florida Law Requiring Gun Buyers to Be 21 Is Upheld
A federal appeals court said the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act is consistent with the Second Amendment.
4 min read
Audriana Lima, 14, a current freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, visits a display of portraits of the 17 students and staff who were killed in a school shooting five years earlier, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, Fla. Family members, neighbors, and well-wishers turned out to multiple events Tuesday to honor the lives of those killed on Valentine's Day 2018.
Audriana Lima, 14, a current freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, visits a display of portraits of the 17 students and staff who were killed in a school shooting five years earlier, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, Fla.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Law & Courts Opinion A Student Journalist's Plea: Stop Censoring Us (and Our Advisers)
High school newspaper staff deserve the same rights as professionals: to uncover wrongdoings and inform the public.
Serena Liu
4 min read
Image of a speech bubble behind yellow tape, a censorship concept
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty Images
Law & Courts Oxford Schools and Staff Have Immunity in Shooting Lawsuits, Judge Rules
A judge ruled that staff at Oxford High School cannot be sued for a shooting that killed four students and wounded seven others.
3 min read
A well wisher kneels to pray at a memorial on the sign of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. A 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at the school, killing several students and wounding multiple other people, including a teacher.
A well wisher kneels to pray at a memorial on the sign of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich.
Paul Sancya/AP