survey of admissions directors - Inside Higher Ed

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Different Students, Different Admissions Criteria?It’s no secret that both public and private four-year institutions admitgroups of students whose test scores and grades are, on average, lowerthan those of other applicants. Table 5 presents data on which groupsare the most likely beneficiaries of these policies and practices.Table 5Do Students in Selected Groups, on Average,Have Lower Grades and Test Scores Than Other Applicants?(percentage reporting “yes”)All 4-YearInstitutionsPublicDoctoralPublicMaster’sPublicBacc.PrivateDoctoralPrivateMaster’sAthletes 28.0 44.4 22.2 18.2 46.4 17.3 28.9Children of alumni 11.5 6.8 10.2 4.3 10.7 7.4 18.4Minority students 39.3 44.2 39.6 22.7 57.1 24.7 46.5Men (for gender balance) 11.1 4.5 6.4 18.2 3.6 13.9 14.0Women (for gender balance) 2.7 4.5 4.3 4.5 7.1 1.3 0.9Full-pay students 10.0 7.0 0.0 0.0 10.7 6.3 19.3International students 9.0 9.3 8.5 4.5 17.9 2.5 12.4Veterans 15.4 18.2 31.3 13.6 21.4 12.3 8.3Table 6Percentage of Respondents Who Agree With the Practice of Admitting Students inSelected Groups Who May Have Lower Grades and Test Scores Than Other Applicants(percentage who agree/strongly agree)All 4-YearInstitutionsPublicDoctoralPublicMaster’sPublicBacc.PrivateDoctoralPrivateBacc.Athletes 91.8 92.0 89.5 66.6 94.9 85.7 100.0Children of alumni 91.5 100.0 92.9 60.0 77.8 94.7 94.3Minority students 99.3 100.0 100.0 84.3 100.0 100.0 100.0Men (for gender balance) 90.7 100.0 92.3 85.7 71.4 95.0 88.9Women (for gender balance) 92.0 100.0 91.7 80.0 85.7 94.8 90.0Full-pay students 92.0 90.9 81.9 100.0 87.5 94.7 94.1International students 90.6 100.0 78.4 80.0 88.9 94.7 92.3Veterans 96.9 100.0 100.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 95.8Table 7Admissions Standards for Asian-American Students(percentage reporting “yes”)All 4-YearInstitutionsPublicDoctoralPublicMaster’sPublicBacc.PrivateDoctoralPrivateMaster’sPrivateMaster’sDoes your institution requirehigher grades and test scores 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6for Asian-American students?PrivateBacc.PrivateBacc.Minority students, followed by athletes,are the groups that admissions directorssay are most likely to benefit from “differential”admissions policies and practices.”In aggregate, veterans rank (a distant) thirdas a group that benefits from policies andpractices to admit students who might havelower grades or test scores. Also not surprisingis that admissions directors stronglysupport current policies and practices attheir institutions that benefit some groupsover the general population of applicants.As shown below in Table 6, large —indeed huge— majorities of admissionsofficials affirm current campus policiesand practice in this area.Many advocates for Asian-Americanstudents argue that they are held to higherstandards when it comes to test scoresand grades in the admissions process. Butadmissions directors insist that that’s notthe case. Table 7 reveals that barely 1 percentof officials at the four-year collegesand universities participating in the surveyacknowledge that Asian-Americanstudents “need significantly higher gradesand test scores” than do other applicantsto earn admission to their institutions.In recent years, more and more colleges—especially liberal arts institutions—have expressed concern about the difficultyof attracting male applicants and students.And some college officials have —controversially—suggested admitting male applicantswith lower grades or test scores. Justover 11 percent of those at four-year collegesand universities said that was theirpractice, with the figures highest at baccalaureateinstitutions. The percentage offour-year colleges reporting that womenare admitted with lower grades and testscores is much smaller -- under 3 percent.10 INSIDE HIGHER ED 2011 SURVEY OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS DIRECTORS
The Continuing Importance of Standardized TestsOver the past two decades, a small but growing number of both public andprivate four-year colleges and universities have announced plans to incorporatenontraditional criteria into admissions. Concurrently, a small butburgeoning number of institutions have also announced plans to reduce(or eliminate) the use of college admissions tests – the SAT and the ACT.As shown in Table 8, the vast majority offour-year institutions require standardizedtests; in aggregate, almost 90 percent continueto require students to submit SAT orACT scores. A sixth (17.4 percent) thatnow require tests are reviewing this policy,while only a tenth (10.7) no longer requiretests. Fully two-fifths (40.0 percent) reportthe expanded use of nontraditional criteria.In contrast, just over a fourth (27.8 percent)of the survey participants in four-year institutionsreport reducing the role of tests inthe admissions review.Interestingly, only a fifth (19.6 percent)of the survey respondents report thattheir campus has both expanded the use ofnontraditional admissions criteria and concurrentlyreduced the use of test scores.Table 8The Status of Standardized Tests in Undergraduate Admissions(percentages answering affirmatively)All 4-YearInstitutionsIs your institution giving thought to making standardized tests optional in undergraduate admissions?We continue to require standardized tests from undergraduate applicants. 71.7 93.3 82.0 62.5 72.4 64.2 65.8We continue to require tests but are also reviewing this policy. 16.6 6.7 16.0 12.5 17.2 27.2 14.0We no longer require tests from undergraduate applicants. 11.7 0.0 2.0 25.0 10.3 8.6 20.0Do You Agree With the Following Statements About the Role of Standardized Tests in Undergraduate Admissions? (percent who agree/strongly agree)We have expanded the use of nontraditional admissions criteria as part of our review process in the past five years. 40.0 42.3 50.0 28.0 41.3 38.2 38.1We have reduced the role of standardized tests in undergraduate admissions reviews and decisions in the past five years. 27.8 22.2 16.0 25.0 27.6 35.3 31.9We have expanded the use of nontraditional criteria and also reduced the role of standardized tests. 19.6 17.8 16.0 16.7 20.7 19.8 22.1Standardized tests (SAT/ACT) should be optional for students who apply to my campus. 24.6 8.9 14.0 37.5 24.1 29.3 29.7PublicDoctoralPublicMaster’sPublicBacc.Private PrivateDoctoral Master’sPrivateBacc.Opinions About Policies and PracticesThe Inside Higher Ed survey solicited the views of campus admissionsdirectors on a wide range of policies, practices and issues, includingfamilies’ use of independent counselors, and the role of social media inthe admissions process. Among them:Need-blind admissions. Although the datapresented elsewhere in this report suggestthat many campuses have increasedtheir efforts to recruit “revenue” students,more than three-fourths of the survey participantsin four-year institutions disagreethat the financial downturn has forcedtheir campuses to pay more attention to anapplicant’s “ability to pay” when makingadmissions decisions.Independent admissions counselors.Despite the growing number of independentcollege counselors who help students andtheir families navigate the admissions process,survey participants report that these individualsdo not significantly enhance theirclients’ prospects for admission.Social Media. Paper, while not dead,is dying, and social media (Facebook andTwitter, among others) are emerging askey recruiting resources for college admissionsofficers.Self-Confidence. Things are improv-2011 SURVEY OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS DIRECTORS INSIDE HIGHER ED11
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survey of admissions directors - Inside Higher Ed

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