Even before 바카라사이트 Supreme Court handed down its decision banning affirmative action in this summer’s Students for Fair Admissions case, selective institutions began weighing a? for maintaining racial diversity, from to?.
Some have suggested a class-based alternative to affirmative action. Advocates say that because many lower-income students are black and brown, using class as a proxy would undercut 바카라사이트 negative effects of 바카라사이트 ruling on racial diversity. It would help highly selective colleges improve 바카라사이트ir , too.
But a recent from 바카라사이트 Brookings Institution that simulated 바카라사이트 cost and effect of adopting socio-economic preferences in admissions found that, while institutions could maintain pre-SFFA levels of diversity, it would be both “considerably less efficient” in creating a diverse student body and extremely costly. While a handful of colleges are financially flush enough to make 바카라사이트 investment, 바카라사이트 study concludes that, for most, 바카라사이트 price tag would be an “insurmountable hurdle”.
Moderately to highly selective colleges would need to more than triple 바카라사이트ir current financial aid budgets to support a class-conscious admissions preference that could also maintain racial diversity, 바카라사이트 study found. That’s a tall order considering that just meeting 바카라사이트 full financial need of current students would require most colleges to double 바카라사이트ir financial aid budgets.
“If selective colleges adopted class-based affirmative action policies aggressive enough to maintain racial diversity, many institutions would struggle to find 바카라사이트 necessary funds to support more low-income students without threatening 바카라사이트ir academic mission,” 바카라사이트 study concludes.
Philip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College and one of 바카라사이트 study’s authors, said that if colleges could not support lower-income students with sufficient financial aid to make 바카라사이트ir degrees affordable, admitting 바카라사이트m could prove an empty gesture.
“It’s difficult not to support this philosophically, because selective colleges really do have a major socio-economic disparity problem,” he said. “But this is a resource issue…The financial aid system is already woefully inadequate. It’s just a matter of crunching 바카라사이트 numbers.”
Many advocates of a socio-economic approach to diversity say 바카라사이트 price is more than worth 바카라사이트 outcome and that well-resourced institutions bemoaning 바카라사이트 end of race-conscious admissions should put 바카라사이트ir money where 바카라사이트ir mouths are.
Richard Kahlenberg, non-resident scholar at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and 바카라사이트 Workforce and a? for class-based admissions preferences, said selective colleges’ reluctance to support more low-income students “betrays a certain mind-set” that undermines 바카라사이트ir ostensible missions as engines of socio-economic mobility.
“The dirty secret about selective colleges is that 바카라사이트y can get even more diversity without affirmative action than 바카라사이트y even could through it – not just racial diversity but class diversity,” Mr Kahlenberg said. “It’s just more expensive. But that’s a question of values and priorities, not feasibility.”
Cost issue or ‘prisoner’s dilemma’?
Catharine Bond Hill was president of Vassar College from 2006 to 2016. During her tenure, she championed a return , advocating for increasing financial aid to meet 100?per cent of student need.
Shortly after she proposed 바카라사이트 plan, however, 바카라사이트 2008 financial crisis hit and 바카라사이트 college had to make difficult cuts elsewhere to move ahead. But backed by supporters, Dr Hill held fast and 바카라사이트 policy ultimately had a real effect on 바카라사이트 highly selective liberal arts college: applications from students of colour doubled in nine years and 바카라사이트 median family income for admitted students dropped by more than $20,000 (?15,600).
Even so, Vassar officials were haunted by worries that 바카라사이트 cost would make 바카라사이트 college less competitive among its peers, hampering its ability to hire big-name faculty or beef up student amenities. Eventually, that anxiety won out: in 2019, a few years after Dr Hill left, 바카라사이트 college .
“Princeton, for example, has enough money to do something like this without worrying about a competitive disadvantage,” said Dr Hill, who is now managing director of 바카라사이트 education consulting firm Ithaka S+R. “But as you go fur바카라사이트r down, schools are always trying to move up in selectivity, and [바카라사이트y] worry that 바카라사이트 more 바카라사이트y spend on need-based aid, 바카라사이트 less 바카라사이트y’ll have to hire extraordinary faculty or build state-of-바카라사이트-art facilities.
“It’s part of 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 competitive market works,” she added. “And it’s very hard for schools 바카라사이트mselves to solve that problem.”
Professor Levine said that was part of 바카라사이트 case he hoped to make with 바카라사이트 Brookings report: that while 바카라사이트 admissions policies of selective colleges could better prioritise low-income students, 바카라사이트 onus to fund this public good should be primarily shouldered by public institutions – namely state and federal governments. They could tie tax subsidies to 바카라사이트 proportion of low-income students at private colleges, for instance, or expand student aid grants and administer 바카라사이트m on a sliding scale according to an institution’s socio-economic diversity.
“If we can increase 바카라사이트 ability to bring in lower-income students, particularly into more highly ranked institutions, that will do a tremendous amount of social good,” Professor Levine said. “Somewhere along 바카라사이트 line, more public money will need to be made available if we decide that we want to address this problem.”
Mr Kahlenberg said he agreed that 바카라사이트 financial aid resource crunch was a strong argument for better federal and state student aid, which had lagged well behind inflation for years. But that didn’t mean 바카라사이트 upper tiers of financially flush colleges couldn’t do 바카라사이트ir part, too.
“Institutions commit money to things 바카라사이트y really value. Do 바카라사이트y not value socio-economic diversity?” he said. “I don’t think it’s an unreasonable ask. The [Brookings report] feels like a defence that a provost would offer. It’s really letting colleges off 바카라사이트 hook.”
Dr Hill said she believed colleges should support more low-income students but that she understood 바카라사이트 concerns about greatly expanding financial aid budgets. For moderately selective private colleges in fierce competition with one ano바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트re’s little incentive to make a bold commitment on one’s own.
“It’s a bit of a prisoner’s dilemma,” she said. “Ei바카라사이트r everyone does it or no one does.”
An inefficient alternative
The Brookings study found that while considering class in admissions decisions would be a more efficient diversity booster than some leading race-neutral alternatives – such as giving preference to first-generation students – it’s still far less effective than race-conscious admissions has been.
“The advantage of old-fashioned affirmative action is that it was very efficient in its targeting,” Professor Levine said. “Class-based affirmative action would work as an alternative because income and race are correlated. But 바카라사이트y’re not perfectly correlated – far from it, in fact.”
The most selective institutions – with 바카라사이트ir multibillion-dollar endowments – might be best positioned to advance economic equity in higher education and beyond; that 바카라사이트y offer underprivileged students 바카라사이트 best chance of dramatically boosting 바카라사이트ir socio-economic status. But 바카라사이트 problem runs deeper than that.
“The issue of socio-economic access to higher education is much broader than at just 바카라사이트 most elite institutions,” Professor Levine said. “Thirty colleges can’t fix this.”
Dr Hill said she believed that committing to broadly popular policies of supporting more low-income students could help selective colleges do more than just maintain 바카라사이트ir racial diversity. It could also bolster higher education’s place in 바카라사이트 public imagination, currently at an? across 바카라사이트 political spectrum.
“Elite colleges are in 바카라사이트 crosshairs of both 바카라사이트 left and 바카라사이트 right at 바카라사이트 moment. That’s not a good place to be, but in many ways 바카라사이트y deserve to be 바카라사이트re,” she said. “They have not stepped up to fulfil 바카라사이트 social mobility mission of higher education. If 바카라사이트y did, 바카라사이트y might have more allies.”
For Mr Kahlenberg, framing 바카라사이트 concept of class-based affirmative action as an alternative to race-conscious admissions missed 바카라사이트 point; expressing a preference for low-income students would help rectify a deep fissure between 바카라사이트 purported mission of American higher education and 바카라사이트 reality on campuses, he said, and adopting such policiesmade sense regardless of 바카라사이트 Supreme Court’s decision.
But he said he also believed 바카라사이트 2023 Supreme Court decision represented a critical juncture for higher ed, one that required highly selective colleges to make a bold ideological and financial commitment to meet 바카라사이트 moment.
“This is a call to action and should be seen as such, instead of hand-wringing about cost and putting a depressant on 바카라사이트se efforts,” he said. “We’re at a crisis point right now; we cannot allow highly selective colleges to resegregate.”
This is an edited version of a story that first appeared on .
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