The Supreme Court of the USA explains when universities may use race-based admissions policies without violating the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. These rulings raise important ethical issues for universities that are presently using race as a consideration in their admissions decisions. This paper discusses some of the ethical…

The United States Supreme Court's landmark 2003 decisions in "Grutter v. Bollinger" and "Gratz v. Bollinger" firmly established that university admissions policies which are designed to promote student body diversity and which employ race in a carefully crafted selection process can withstand constitutional challenge. The Supreme Court ruled that…

This study applied probability models in a four-year case study at a selective liberal arts college. The study found that, while admissions decisions matched institutional goals for student characteristics, discrepancies between acceptance and enrollment decisions frustrated the institution's efforts to achieve diversity and highlighted the…

Until society has addressed underlying factors in racial and minority-group inequities, it should attempt to make progress toward equity at all educational levels, including colleges and graduate and professional schools. Analysis of newly available empirical data suggests that following race-neutral policies at selective colleges would have…

The results of a 2-year study examining the ways that four major urban school systems (New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston) sort students into different schools, tracks, ability groups, and grade levels are summarized in this report. The study looked carefully at the effects of these sorting practices on low-income, minority, limited…

This study describes the development of the Learning Center at the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Center was established to provide support for minority students taking pre-business courses required for entrance to the School, such as accounting, economics, and business statistics; to demonstrate positive affective…

The legal validity and public support of racial, ethnic, and gender preferences are eroding, and all affirmative action programs must be reconsidered. All American colleges and universities must develop new plans for affirmative action programs. Policies should cover admission, financial aid, employment, and contracting. Three primary models focus…

In 1991, Massachusetts passed an interdistrict choice law that gave parents the option of enrolling their child in any district they selected. Six years later, David Armor and Brett Peiser conducted a study to examine the social, racial, and financial impact of the choice program on participating districts, and to determine if the thesis behind…

Comprehensive or nonselective schools have been in existence in the United Kingdom for over 40 years, having gradually replaced the old selective system of grammar schools for able pupils and secondary modern schools for less able pupils. In spite of their growth in numbers, comprehensive schools have been subject to continual controversy, and…

Purpose: This paper will: (1) review the validity of the Graduate Record Examination for predicting international students' Graduate Grade Point Average (GGPA); and (2) inspect possible social, cultural and language bias or learning style differences in the prediction of international students' performance from Graduate Record Examination (GRE)…

This study outlines and evaluates the admissions policies and procedures devised for evaluating applicants to the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities. The procedures utilized a holistic file review process that required applications to be evaluated in the context of their local regions. Complete student files, which included…

The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the allocation of vocational rehabilitation (VR) funds to determine whether and how states are prioritizing VR services to individuals with the most severe disabilities through the order-of-selection procedure mandated in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. GAO visited VR agencies in 20 states and analyzed…

The California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) has reviewed the status of the State of California as a member of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and recommended California's continued membership in the WICHE compact. Specifically, the CPEC proposed that: (1) California remain a full member of WICHE and…

The College Board formed a research consortium with four-year colleges and universities to build a national higher education database with the primary goal of validating the SAT®, which is used in college admission and consists of three sections: critical reading (SAT-CR), mathematics (SAT-M) and writing (SAT-W). This report builds on a body of…

Criticizes approach to equal education that seeks equality of outcome as well as equality of opportunity. Discusses Spearman's theory of g that attempts to explain individual differences in intelligence. Contrasts efforts at genuinely reducing equality of outcome, including Aptitude X Treatment Interaction, Mastery Learning, and Thinking Skills…