Affirmative Action—the consideration of race in college admissions—allows colleges to admit students based on their race to increase campus diversity, even if their academic standing is not as high as other students applying to the university. It is widely regarded that minorities are underrepresented in higher education, and while this may be historically accurate, there is a new group that is losing the benefits of higher education—lower class students. Students coming from lower class families are often deprived of educational opportunities, not because they are of lower intelligence, but because they simply cannot afford to attend college. By making college more affordable for these low income students, colleges can increase diversity …show more content…
While critics believe that moving to such a system would cause racial diversity in colleges to decline due to the lack of racial preferences, poverty data suggests otherwise. Columbia University’s National Center for Children in Poverty finds that 65% of African American children and 63% of Hispanic children live in households considered low income, compared to 31% of Caucasian children. Since the majority of low income children come from minority households, a system with preference to economic disadvantage would continue to expand racial diversity without discriminating against …show more content…
In 2003 the court heard the case of Grutter v Bollinger, deciding 5-4 in favor of the affirmative action practices in place at the University of Michigan law school. In the majority opinion, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor writes, “We [The Supreme Court] expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.” This substantiates the belief that affirmative action was never intended to be a permanent concept, and needs to be replaced by a system that works for the 21st
Affirmative action will also assist the university in reaching their desired diversity quota. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that universities can consider race as one of the main
The lifelong dream of a virtuous student, acceptance into a prestigious college of choice, crushed by the prejudice of a single law. Hopes upon hopes of attaining one’s dream job, demolished due to the same impassive law. Affirmative action, a national dilemma, continues to crush the dreams of many across the country; although meant with noble intentions, affirmative action offers an ineffective, impractical, and useless rectification to correct a historical social evil, the growing imbalance of different ethnicities. Instead of augmenting this common problem, affirmative action plays a critical role in reverse discrimination, equating race to diversity in opinion, and destroying the idea of meritocracy.
Today, African American students are under-represented in college and universities, and the reason is the ongoing disenfranchisement of African American students. Our education system needs be more responsive and needs to pay more attention to the college preparation for these students. People of color historically have been misrepresented, exploited, silenced, and taken for granted in education research (Dillard, 2000; Stanfield, 1995), (H. Richard Milner IV, 2008).
For some students, race is a central part of their identity. The struggles they face with it determines the achievements that they can present to the admissions officers. Despite the current ban on the usage of race in college admissions in Michigan, admissions officers should not ignore any part of a student’s unique circumstances, which may be related to one’s socioeconomic status, race, or both. In the article, “Still Separate, Still Unequal: America’s Educational Apartheid,” Kozol argues that the ongoing racial segregation and the lack of funding in schools consisting primarily of blacks and Hispanics are putting the poor and minority children at an disadvantage by not providing them a chance to have good teachers, classrooms, and other resources. While universities use scores to assess the academic ability of a student, minorities who attend schools segregated based on race or socioeconomic status may excel at what they are given, have the
The fact that, in most cases, a minority student will get accepted over a white student with the same or almost the same qualifications is causing controversy all over the nation. This is precisely the definition of affirmative action. In an excerpt titled Affirmative Action and the College Admissions Process from the book, 8 Steps to Help Black Families Pay For College, by Thomas and Will LaVeist, it is stated that, “affirmative action is meant to level the playing field and ensure that schools and businesses are not intentionally discriminating against minority groups.” This leveling of the playing field leads to the very broad generalization and misperception that the policy is allowing less-qualified minorities to take the place of the more-qualified whites.
In the United States alone, minorities have struggled for centuries to earn the basic rights and opportunities as others. African Americans have always worked harder and been treated maliciously just because of the color of their skin. There have been numerous movements, peaceful protests, and brutal battles by black leaders against whites for equality, justice, and a fair chance at a better life. It is safe to say that in the past, blacks were not allowed to progress or have a mind of their own. In comparison to the past, the educational sector for minorities still remains as an extreme societal challenge. For many years, African Americans have been denied educational advancement opportunities. The higher education area suffers greatly for the black population but very few people will address why this matter occurs. Do black families’ socioeconomic status affect the children’s education? The socioeconomic status is easily defined as an individuals or families’ economic and social rank based on income, education level, and occupation. The socioeconomic status of black families does affect their children’s academic success, however; it does not determine their children’s success. This educational disadvantage for black students needs to be addressed because of the lack of financial and emotional support that minority students receive due to their parents lack of experience and knowledge with higher education. Many black students become a product of their environment because
The various alternative forms of Affirmative Action all have received national attention. Yet, the country is divided on all of these issues, specifically how university admissions should assess issues of merit and diversity against national fundamental issues of diversity and fairness.
The equal opportunity that affirmative action provides has also increased the amount of minority applicants applying to each school. It has “resulted in doubling or tripling the number of minority applications to colleges or universities, and have made colleges and universities more representative of their surrounding community” (Messerli). Since the playing field has been evened, it has encouraged more of those who are disadvantaged because of their ethnicity to apply for and get admitted into college. However, the quotas cause schools to admit under qualified students of minor races who don’t meet the limit over highly qualified students who’s race has reached the limit.
Affirmative action was created to help end discrimination in the work place and in educational opportunities, but has given an unfair advantage to minority groups at the expense of more qualified individuals. Because employers and colleges must show that they are accepting a proportional amount of minorities in their application acceptance process, highly qualified
The subject of affirmative action in college admissions has been hotly debated since its inception. Although affirmative action was originally supported by the vast majority, that same majority is now starting to wonder if there is a better way. Commonly asked questions include: “Is affirmative action still working?” and “Is there an alternative?” The answers to each of these questions will provide insurmountable evidence that affirmative action in college admissions no longer fulfills its intended purpose and that the only viable alternative is to focus more attention on primary schooling for the underprivileged.
Many critics of affirmative action believe it has failed to achieve its stated goal of equal employment opportunity. A few even believe that it has done more harm than good. A review of the statistics, however, shows
Supporters of affirmative action believe that the executive order has slowly closed the race gap when it comes to the demographics of colleges and universities. To defend affirmative action Justice Harry Blackman wrote “[To] get beyond racism, we must first take account of race” (Berdahl, 2000). Since 1994, black enrollment has doubled at colleges and universities. In 2013, African American students accounted for 16 percent of their student body, versus 11 percent in 1994 (McGill, 2014). Affirmative action has
For nearly 50 years, the use of affirmative action for college admissions has been a controversial topic. Affirmative action is the policy of favoring the minority groups in an application pool in order to increase diversity in relation to education or employment.
As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an
College tuition has skyrocketed over the past decades making the pathway to college less accessible to low-income families. According to the