Affirmative action was a strategy adopted by an expansionist federal government to hasten integration, meant to be temporary and thought to be innocent. It has become a system of racial preferences and should be ended. It is unconstitutional, is inappropriate for the complex racial distribution in this country, promotes racial resentment and…

Asian Americans are charging that the nation's most prestigious colleges are limiting their access with informal quotas. Admissions deans and directors must discard stereotypes, take steps to guarantee a more sensitive assessment of Asian-American applicants, and not cap admissions for that group. (MSE)

The nation's best interests are served by selective admission to higher education. Selection should be based on scholastic aptitude, measured more accurately by combining high school grades and aptitude test scores than by either alone. Neither scores nor grades is flawless or badly flawed enough to be disregarded. (MSE)

It is argued that, despite a tendency toward standardization of student evaluation, it is possible to use college admission requirements to support academic rigor without creating barriers to admission. There is evidence to support use of special recruitment and admissions programs and alternative testing methods. The College Board's role is…

An economist discusses whether strategic use of student financial aid to achieve sound fiscal goals in higher education is at odds with the competing goal of equity. Overemphasis on efficiency will cause higher education to lose sight of its mission; while it should not shy away from rational consideration of expenses and revenues, it should…

Testing can serve an important function in the selective admissions process, but the emphasis should be shifted from measurement to assessment of learning, from people evaluation to program evaluation, and from a concern with aptitude to a concern with accomplishment. Such changes would help testing improve teaching and learning. (Author/JMD)

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…