Opinion
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion

No-Name Report on Admissions Discrimination

By Richard Whitmire — August 02, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

According to the Chronicle, the forthcoming report on whether colleges are discriminating against women by favoring male applicants may not identify particular colleges.

From the article:

The commission aims to discover if colleges are violating Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by favoring men in the admissions process, now that many colleges receive many more applications from women. The inquiry is intended to determine whether there are significant differences between the grade-point averages and standardized-test scores of men and women who are admitted. Title IX, the federal gender-equity law, prohibits colleges and universities that receive federal funds from discriminating against applicants on the basis of gender--with the major exception of undergraduate admissions at private colleges that are not professional or technical institutions. That exemption allows women's colleges, for instance, to keep their undergraduate populations all-female.

Not naming colleges is understandable. After all, they were only looking for a sample. My concern about the report is the sample they selected. Once the College of William and Mary was left off the list -- a college that had admitted to favoring men to keep the gender balances in check -- I began to wonder whether the commission wanted real answers or was only seeking to arrive at a pre-determined position.

The opinions expressed in Why Boys Fail are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.