The Impact of an SES-Based Model on a College’s Undergraduate Admissions Outcomes

Authors: John W. Young¹; Paul M. Johnson²

Source: Research in Higher Education, Volume 45, Number 7, November 2004 , pp. 777-797(21)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

In Grutter vs. Bollinger, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of race as one factor, among many in admissions decisions is constitutional. It is not known, however, whether future legal opinions will continue to uphold the use of affirmative action policies. Some have argued that class-based preferences can achieve many of the same goals as in affirmative action while being more likely to withstand legal challenges. To date, no empirical studies have been conducted on the potential impact of a class-based admissions policy if implemented at an undergraduate institution. This paper reports on a study at a selective public college and compares a number of outcomes under three admissions models: the original admissions decisions, a purely academic model, and an socio-economic status (SES)-based model. The findings showed that use of the SES-based model would have led to a more academically qualified class than in the original admitted class while maintaining substantially greater student diversity that was found under the academic model. An admissions policy based on preferences for socio-economically disadvantaged applicants appears to hold promise for other colleges and universities with similar institutional and applicant characteristics. The ideas and research design reported in this paper are based on the doctoral dissertation study of the second author, “Undergraduate Admissions Models Incorporating Socioeconomic Factors” (Johnson, 2000).

Keywords: admissions models; affirmative action; college admissions; socio-economic status

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:RIHE.0000044231.27188.05

Affiliations: 1: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. : jwyoung@rci.rutgers.edu, Email: jwyoung@rci.rutgers.edu 2: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

Publication date: 2004-11-01

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