Affirmative action controversy resurges in college admissions

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/07/22/colleges-go-test-optional-domestic-applicants-they-take-different

Harvard recently won a case where the court ruled they were not discriminating against Asian-Americans in the admissions process. It was quickly appealed and is expected to be picked up by the Supreme Court according to a New York Times article. The case started when Harvard was accused of implementing a restrictive quota for Asian-Americans. Harvard has denied the claims. Other Ivy League schools stood with Harvard and concluded that if Harvard lost the case, it would negatively impact diversity efforts at colleges across the nation.

The case highlights the implications of affirmative action. What was originally used to create space for African Americans in the university setting, is now taking a different form. It has always been controversial, but in recent years, cases involving affirmative action in the university setting have resurged. More recently, universities have been making efforts to eliminate taking race into consideration when it comes to the application process. College Board has also been making efforts to take race out of the equation. College Board is incorporating student’s socioeconomic background instead of race into the information required to be filled out on the SAT.

In order for minority groups to be truly included in higher education and for diversity efforts to be successful, many layers need to be considered. College Board including socioeconomic status background instead of other identifiers is a step to making the process more balanced and level. This is not the only step, however. Resources are not equally distributed among high school students. There are private school options, families can move districts to ensure their children go to the best public schools and SAT preparation is offered, but can be expensive. These examples are only three of many other ways the education system is systematically biased toward people with privilege. To think about higher education diversity and inclusion efforts, efforts being made at pre-k through 12 levels need to be considered as well.