This brief is part of the Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, and Empowering Action initiative. This brief--which draws on a thorough review of existing research, original data analysis, and conversations with institutional leaders and experts--urges college leaders and admissions officials to address longstanding inequities in college access by…

This work used mixed methods to understand the enrollment of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) high schools. Grounded in previous work that described and recommended school practices for recruitment, admission, and retention of students from historically…

Although United States community college enrollment rose in Fall 2023, the community college sector as a whole has contracted by 37% since 2010, representing over 2.6 million students. As a result, community college practitioners, specifically, those working in admissions and enrollment management should ensure that admissions instructions are…

The growing demand for language mediation across different domains of public service interpreting (PSI) poses a challenge for policymakers, stakeholders (institutional representatives, clients), and traditional interpreter education institutions. Alongside university-based interpreter education, different training formats have emerged…

The global diffusion of the graduate school organizational model has shifted the way future academic excellence is identified from a paternalistic master-disciple relationship to a collective organizational decision. 'Eminent men' used to recruit PhD students on the firm belief that they could identify excellence and integrate it in their own…

Using a mixed-methods approach, this research examines admissions practices and recruitment strategies within eight graduate-level, allied health sciences programs. The results highlight the characteristics of submitted, accepted, and matriculated students, and identifies, by program, if the recruitment strategies (e.g., marketing campaign…

While preferable over requiring standardized tests, test-optional policies also have some unintended consequences. The limitations of test-optional policies do not warrant a return to required standardized testing, which is even more counterproductive to equity given that race and class are substantial predictors of performance on such tests.…

Research on student selection mostly focuses on accepted applicants and the effects of selection procedures. In this sense, most samples seem to be biased, which is well-reflected in the literature. The present study investigates student selection regarding students who had been initially de-selected but finally succeeded in the admission process.…

The admission process for many postsecondary institutions was not fundamentally designed to promote equity. It was especially not designed to put students' needs at the center of the process, let alone to give them decision-making power in institutional policies and practices. However, the year 2020--punctuated by a racial reckoning and global…

Many professions necessitate a graduate-level education, and research conducted by graduate students is integral in many fields, particularly those in the life science programs like ecology and environmental sciences. However, practices for recruiting and selecting graduate students are inconsistent among and within institutions. Although some…

Education markets have spread worldwide over the past few decades. Frequently, the expansion of markets in education is presented by their promoters as a means to improve the opportunities of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged students. However, the evidence available shows that market-oriented policies that enhance competition and choice…

This study investigated the underexplored topic of teacher preparation program admissions processes by interviewing faculty and analyzing program documents. We investigated how 31 K-12 mathematics and science teacher preparation programs (MSTPPs) and faculty attend to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social and racial justice (DEIJ). Specific…

Schools of choice need to provide equitable access and opportunities to all students, including students with disabilities and emergent bilinguals. In the context of Early College High Schools, principals and school districts should be partners in ensuring admissions processes are non-discriminatory. In this fictional case, a new principal in a…

A key goal of many magnet programs is to improve student diversity in schools. This snapshot describes efforts by those participating in the U.S. Department of Education's Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP). Findings are based on surveys completed by most of the more than 160 schools recently funded by MSAP grants and interviews with their…

There is an abundance of research on the college admissions process and the practices selective schools employ to evaluate and select students. Most findings are complex, nuanced, or conflicting. Less than a month after the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in "Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard" and "Students…