To help minority applicants, colleges are getting creative.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to ban considering race in college admissions has provoked concern about the fallout on minority applicants who may lack advantages that other students take for granted. Worried that already-low minority enrollments might slide even further, many campus officials are intensifying efforts to find “race neutral” ways to remove obstacles that disadvantaged minority students might encounter. Here are four examples:
Academic preparation
Some minority students attend underfunded urban high schools that don’t adequately prepare students to be competitive applicants at selective colleges. These schools might not offer a full array of AP classes or stress the importance of taking high-level math and science classes for potential STEM majors. Some colleges seeking to diversify their classes have been reaching out earlier to high-school and even middle-school students to motivate and, in some cases, tutor and teach them.
I recently reported on how the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is recruiting students through its Wolverine Pathways program, which offers year-round academic and social support to students, families, and schools in four underserved areas — Detroit, Ypsilanti, Grand Rapids, and Southfield — starting in seventh grade. Michigan has banned colleges from considering race in admissions since 2006, and today, about one in five of Ann Arbor’s entering Black in-state students are graduates of the program.
Standardized-test scores
Historically, white students score higher than minority students on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. That could be because of a number of factors, including the quality of schools they attend, the rigor of classes they’re steered into, and whether or not they can afford test-prep classes and private tutors.
Minority students are also less likely to receive mentoring from parents who’ve graduated from college.
A growing number of colleges that question whether tests like the SAT and ACT are fair, and give an accurate picture of a student’s potential, are making them optional. The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as FairTest, reports that more than 80 percent of U.S. bachelor’s-degree granting colleges won’t require ACT or SAT scores from recent high-school graduates applying for the fall of 2024.
Extracurricular activities
For students who are caring for family members or working to help cover household bills, sports and clubs might be luxuries they can’t afford, let alone places where they can devote long hours and demonstrate leadership skills. Recognizing this, a growing number of colleges use holistic reviews that consider not only grades, courses, and activities, but also evidence that students have persisted or overcome obstacles in whatever extracurricular pursuits they’re engaged in.
One recent example that my colleague Eric Hoover wrote about: The National Association for College Admission Counseling just announced a new Character Focus Initiative to help colleges develop ways of assessing students’ personal attributes, like curiosity and integrity.
Financial barriers
Escalating college costs have many students rethinking whether a degree is worth it, especially at a time when entry-level, low-wage jobs are relatively easy to come by. Even when college scholarships and low-cost options are available, the information doesn’t always reach families in underserved schools where one counselor might be serving hundreds of students.
The form that can unlock some of those funds — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA — can seem overwhelming and foreign. Some colleges, like Truckee Meadows Community College and Santa Rosa Junior College, offer workshops to help families fill out the FAFSA. Many colleges waive application fees. And on a larger scale, some tout “no loan” policies, many designated for low-income students, where colleges aim to meet a student’s full need through scholarships, grants, and federal Work-Study programs.— Katherine Mangan
