Merit - Aware Admissions in Public Universities

Public colleges and universities may soon lose the freedom to consider race in their admissions processes. In California and Washington, voters have required colleges to abandon affirmative action, and in Texas, a federal court decision has virtually eliminated the use of racial preferences in college admissions. At the University of Michigan, preferences—established on historical, moral, and empirical grounds—are now being challenged in federal court (Gratz and Hamacher v. Bollinger, et al.; Grutter v. Bollinger, et al.).1 While there is a growing movement away from the use of racial preferences in college admissions, there is still support for maintaining diversity in college enrollments, especially in public colleges. Recent polls indicate that the majority of voters favor maintaining racial diversity on college campuses.2 Further, the state legislature in Texas and the Board of Regents in California have mandated changes in public college admissions practices that essentially ensure diversity.3 How, then, can colleges develop admissions practices that achieve diversity but do not involve racial preferences, two seemingly contradictory goals? In this paper we address this question by testing an alternative method of college admissions, the “merit-aware model” proposed by William Goggin.4 We first reconsider the issue of using racial preferences in the admissions process, then summarize the merit-aware alternative, and present case studies that illustrate how the meritaware approach can be used. Finally, we conclude with a few lessons that might help inform admissions practitioners and others considering merit-aware admissions. Racial preferences in admissions originated in efforts to rectify the injustices of segregated higher THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL 35