Americans don’t favor Affirmative Action
Surprising Pew poll found that 74% of adults think that race and ethnicity should not be considered in admissions decisions. 82% found that gender should not be considered. 61% of respondents support consideration of high school grades and 39% support standardized tests. And this study included every racial group and even Democrats and Republicans.
The US Supreme Court is preparing to hear 2 cases on the future of affirmative action policies at Harvard and UNC Chapel Hill in October 2022. With admission rates dropping for selective colleges this year, the public is looking for more fair admissions policies.
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Apparently, Americans consider these factors important:
Americans Evaluate What Colleges Should Consider
Factor |
% Who Believe It Should Be a Major Factor | A Minor Factor | Shouldn’t Be Considered |
Community service |
19% | 48% | 33% |
| First in family to go to college | 18% | 28% | 54% |
| Athletic ability | 9% | 36% | 55% |
| Race or ethnicity | 7% | 19% | 74% |
| Whether a relative attended the college | 5% | 20% | 75% Americans Evaluate What Colleges Should Consider |
| Gender | 4% | 14% | 82% |
Pew broke down the responses on race and ethnicity in admissions by race and by political identity. The proportions who believe that race and ethnicity shouldn’t be considered were: 79 percent for white people, 59 percent for Black people, 68 percent for Hispanics and 63 percent for Asians.
In terms of politics, while 87 percent of Republicans said race and ethnicity should not be considered in admissions decisions, 62 percent of Democrats agreed.
The survey was of 10,441 American adults.
There is a lot of frustration amongst college applicants this year, when so many qualified students were denied admission to their top colleges. Seems like Americans are looking for fair college admissions policies.