Washington — The American Psychological Association has reaffirmed its support for equity and inclusion in higher education in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that bars the consideration of race as a factor in college and university admissions.
“[D]espite the Supreme Court’s decision and the constraints imposed by it, the APA encourages higher education institutions to create, maintain, and increase equitable admissions policies that continue to examine the individual holistically,” according to a resolution passed Aug. 2 by APA’s governing Council of Representatives. “The court’s decisions will worsen underrepresentation of certain racial and ethnic groups at higher education institutions that are not Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). One recent study, examining enrollment data from 53 public universities in states with and without bans, found that having a ban reduced representation of racial and ethnic minorities by a staggering 37%.”
APA called for measures including “adversity scales” where colleges consider the adversity a student has overcome when selecting among qualified applicants, similar to the “socioeconomic disadvantage index” developed by the University of California, Davis, medical school.
The resolution—which passed by a vote of 142-6, with 8 abstentions—also called for eliminating preferences for the wealthy, such as donors and children of alumni; targeting students at high schools that have a limited history of sending applicants to their school; paying full tuition in geographic areas for students with family incomes of $150,000 or less; establishing early college programs that allow high school students to take courses to earn college credit; and providing academic support and college admissions advice to high school students in low-income communities.
APA filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court cases Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who dissented, relied heavily on the APA brief and the psychological research it presented.