"Standardized test scores and GPAs never tell the whole story. Median family income, access to Advanced Placement courses, local crime rates and other key indicators help admissions officers see the full picture and provide crucial context to help identify high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities. These are students whom universities might otherwise overlook. Tools that give context level the playing field-not by lowering standards, but by lifting students up according to their merit and the obstacles they have overcome."
"Two years ago, the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to opportunity in America when it gutted access to higher education for underrepresented groups. That decision was not only legally misguided but also turned a blind eye to the deep inequities that have long shaped our education system. Our colleges and universities scrambled to find lawful tools to ensure that their student bodies still reflected the breadth of talent and promise in this country."
"The Supreme Court, even in striking down diversity initiatives, still made clear that universities could explore race-neutral alternatives to achieve equity. The use of socioeconomic and geographic factors is exactly such an alternative. Despite U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi's recent nonbinding guidance warning against the use of geographic indicators as "proxies" for race, make no mistake: Abandoning consideration of these elements of an applicant's background is not a legal requirement but a political choice, reflecting fear rather than courage."
The Supreme Court decision removed key avenues for underrepresented groups to access higher education, prompting colleges to seek lawful, race-neutral tools. Landscape provided admissions officers with high-school and neighborhood data while excluding race or ethnicity. Socioeconomic and geographic indicators—median family income, AP course access, local crime rates—offer crucial context beyond test scores and GPAs to identify high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities. The Court allowed exploration of race-neutral alternatives, and using these factors fits that approach. Guidance warning against geographic indicators as "proxies" for race is nonbinding; abandoning such measures is a political choice that risks favoring the privileged.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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