Discusses the consequences to the nation and to Blacks of abolishing affirmative action in college and university admission policies. It examines the impact of abandoning racial preferences on school admissions, particularly as it concerns graduate and medical schools. The author argues that without the use of racial preferences far fewer Blacks…

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…

This article argues that standards of the American Association of Law Schools and the American Bar Association result in race norming in law school admissions, with substantially lower admission standards for African Americans and notes that proponents of such policies have been less than candid in a recent controversy concerning Georgetown Law…

Federal Supreme Court and appellate court decisions in 1996 concerning discrimination against college students are reviewed. Several decisions deal with diversity and the lawfulness of excluding applicants under a diversity rationale or extending preferences to certain classes of applicants to enhance diversity. Other cases of discrimination based…

An examination of the debate over affirmative action policies in higher education finds that increasingly, conservative black scholars are opposing continuation of affirmative action. In addition, the movement is gaining credibility through the activities of conservative academic groups such as the National Association of Scholars. These groups…

J. Michael Thompson is the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at the University of Southern California. J. Michael has worked in higher education for more than 30 years in a variety of roles at small private and mid-sized and large public universities, and now at USC, a large private university. He has…

Two studies explored the experience and performance of students at Williams College in three-person groups that were homogeneous or heterogeneous in rated academic ability. In accord with hypotheses from Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory, students in academically homogeneous groups had more positive experiences and performed better on…

This report presents the fall 1993 freshman admission requirements adopted by the individual public universities and community colleges in Illinois. The first section explains the specific high school courses required for regular admission as freshmen to Illinois public universities and community colleges beginning with the fall 1993 entering…

In 1985-86, Kalamazoo College participated in a project to promote student transfer from two-year colleges. Among the accomplishments of the project were the preparation of a general transfer student brochure addressing issues of admissions, financial aid, credit transfer, and academic advising; the distribution of a quick reference sheet stating…

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Validity Study Service was created to enable graduate schools of management to investigate the adequacy of the devices and procedures they use for selection purposes and to facilitate the accumulation and summary of data from many individual graduate management schools. Participating schools are…

Accessibility to a college education in Ontario, Canada, was assessed by studying the pattern of acceptances and rejections of various choices made by unregistered college applicants. Study concerns included: total offers to programs of choice from any college and from an Ontario college only; offers by institution type and program type for first…

Potential secondary school English teachers undergo a unique screening procedure at the University of Washington. The education faculty allows the English faculty to recommend qualified candidates for the English education program. Students considering teaching English as a career visit the English department's advisory office, where they complete…

The Supreme Court's Bakke decision stated what institutions could not do regarding the use of race and ethnicity in admissions. Alternative procedures developed by Michigan State University, the Medical College of Ohio, Temple University, McMaster University, and Florida State University are described which focus on assessing individual applicant…

The roles and options open in the continuing effort to increase minority participation in higher education and the professions are discussed. Actions of colleges and universities in admissions are addressed, along with the efforts of state and federal government programs, professional associations, and educational researchers. (Author/LBH)

Proceedings of AACRAO's 63rd annual meeting deal with: college courses in high schools; women's colleges; special programs for underprepared college students; and the role of the admissions officer in identifying and selecting high-risk students. (LBH)