Opinion Piece: Affirmative Action in College Admissions
by Annabel Benjamin
As an article by the Washington Post explains, many prestigious universities in the United States have historically had predominantly white, affluent student bodies. In regards to the increasing number of students pursuing higher-education in the United States, diversity has grown in the national college application pool.
But despite this, there is still a major gap between the amount of minority students and the number of white students going to college.
To diversify education would decrease the discrepancies between the actual percentage of minatory students in the US and their presence in higher education.
A highly politicized topic, affirmative action has been discussed in various court cases at the federal level. In 2016 the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold affirmative action in the admissions process in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.
Abagail Fisher challenged the affirmative action policies at the University of Texas after being denied admission as a white student. Blaming these policies for her rejection to the university, she decided to sue to the university on the grounds that she was discriminated because of her race.
“The justices said that institutions can use race as one factor among many in a ‘holistic’ evaluation of students,” The Washington Post article explains. Academic achievement, community involvement and test scores are still heavily weighted in the admissions process and with affirmative action policies in place at many universities, race becomes another aspect considered in the process.
“Admissions policies that take race into consideration are most relevant at campuses where there are far more applicants than there are spots in the freshman class” the Washington Post article says.
A study that assessed student’s feelings towards affirmative action revealed that “that race/ethnicity and political views were significant predictors of affirmative action attitudes for males and females”
As an article by the New York Times explains, even with affirmative action policies in college admissions, minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics are still wildly underrepresented in the nations universities.
Analysis done by the NY Times says that “Nationwide, 15 percent of 18-year-olds were black and 22 percent were Hispanic in 2015, according to federal data” while only “6 percent of non-international freshmen were black and 13 percent were Hispanic.”
A report by the US Department of Education concludes that in regards to attaining a degree from a higher institution “the gap has more than doubled between whites and blacks, as well as between whites and Hispanics” since the 1960s.
“College opportunities and social mobility decrease at five points along the higher education pipeline for students of color” the US Department of Education reports. Minorities often lack the resources and experiences necessary to reach their higher education goals or form those goals in the first place.
As explained in an article by the Los Angeles Times, Proposition 209 a California ballot referendum approved by the Supreme Court in 2000 “prohibits the state from discriminating against or giving preferences to anyone on the basis of ‘race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin’ in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.
Opponents of affirmative action believe that using racial quotas in college admissions decisions is reverse discrimination. With the Trump administration in office, opposition towards affirmative action has even increased in recent years.
But despite this, there is still a major gap between the amount of minority students and the number of white students going to college.
To diversify education would decrease the discrepancies between the actual percentage of minatory students in the US and their presence in higher education.
A highly politicized topic, affirmative action has been discussed in various court cases at the federal level. In 2016 the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold affirmative action in the admissions process in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.
Abagail Fisher challenged the affirmative action policies at the University of Texas after being denied admission as a white student. Blaming these policies for her rejection to the university, she decided to sue to the university on the grounds that she was discriminated because of her race.
“The justices said that institutions can use race as one factor among many in a ‘holistic’ evaluation of students,” The Washington Post article explains. Academic achievement, community involvement and test scores are still heavily weighted in the admissions process and with affirmative action policies in place at many universities, race becomes another aspect considered in the process.
“Admissions policies that take race into consideration are most relevant at campuses where there are far more applicants than there are spots in the freshman class” the Washington Post article says.
A study that assessed student’s feelings towards affirmative action revealed that “that race/ethnicity and political views were significant predictors of affirmative action attitudes for males and females”
As an article by the New York Times explains, even with affirmative action policies in college admissions, minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics are still wildly underrepresented in the nations universities.
Analysis done by the NY Times says that “Nationwide, 15 percent of 18-year-olds were black and 22 percent were Hispanic in 2015, according to federal data” while only “6 percent of non-international freshmen were black and 13 percent were Hispanic.”
A report by the US Department of Education concludes that in regards to attaining a degree from a higher institution “the gap has more than doubled between whites and blacks, as well as between whites and Hispanics” since the 1960s.
“College opportunities and social mobility decrease at five points along the higher education pipeline for students of color” the US Department of Education reports. Minorities often lack the resources and experiences necessary to reach their higher education goals or form those goals in the first place.
As explained in an article by the Los Angeles Times, Proposition 209 a California ballot referendum approved by the Supreme Court in 2000 “prohibits the state from discriminating against or giving preferences to anyone on the basis of ‘race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin’ in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.
Opponents of affirmative action believe that using racial quotas in college admissions decisions is reverse discrimination. With the Trump administration in office, opposition towards affirmative action has even increased in recent years.