Test 2

New America wants to end early decision and legacy admissions programs:

In January, several Democrats in the U.S. Senate sent out letters to higher education experts asking for ideas on how to narrow racial and ethnic gaps in student debt and access to higher education. The results that have come in include numerous ideas about Pell Grants and loan programs, as one might expect.

One group, New America, is going for changes that it termed "radical" (along with plenty of other proposals that aren't). Officials at New America believe these ideas just might get more attention this year than they would have previously. The group is proposing that colleges that have a preference for alumni children lose access to federal aid programs. Ditto for colleges that have early-decision programs. And the group wants to require universities that seek federal research grants to replace admissions systems with ones in which a lottery plays a prominent role (among applicants who have made it over some bar).

The ideas would involve an assertive role for the federal government, and are certain to draw strong opposition. But New America says it is trying to prompt debate by challenging conventional wisdom about college admissions being meritocratic. In addition, the proposals come at a time of growing concern that a loss for Harvard University in the lawsuit it is facing over its affirmative action programs could reduce the diversity in the student bodies of leading American colleges. And the proposals come as Democratic politicians are increasing their focus on racial inequities -- and are speaking out about what they see as flaws in college admissions.

[...]

The lottery requirement proposed by New America would be imposed on any college or university seeking either federal student aid or federal research grants. Traditional admissions systems would have to be replaced by a lottery. Colleges could have minimum requirements based on SAT/ACT score and/or high school grades, to assure that only those able to do the work would be admitted. But all applicants who get over the bar would go into the lottery. No preferences for legacies. No preferences based on race or ethnicity. And to show just how radical this idea is, the proposal specifically states that athletes would also be admitted through this lottery, without any special treatment.

A lottery would "make the admissions process more transparent to students and families," New America's proposal says.

My emphasis. Radical indeed.

This proposal would create more bureaucracy in an already overly bureaucratic process. Who would police institutions' admissions/evaluation policies? How much information about the evaluation of applicants would an institution be required to share? Now we're getting into issues of personally identifiable information and data breaches.

And lastly, I'm sure that the NCAA would have something to say for that bit about student athletic recruits and the lottery system.

Look, I'm all for the leveling of the proverbial Playing Field with regard to college admission. But this idea - while very creative - is just not plausible in the current landscape of higher education.