Reflecting upon the experience serving on the University of California's Standardized Testing Task Force, and drawing lessons learned, I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has merely served to accelerate the trend of US higher education institutions moving away from current standardized tests. New educational assessments will continue to be…

We assess how "implicit" selections based on non-cognitive abilities may have changed in the context of the great higher education expansion in China, applying the classic supply-demand framework and utilizing the Big Five personality model. Using the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) data from 2012, difference-in-difference (DID),…

One key argument in the ongoing affirmative action debate is that Asian American students who are not accepted to their first-choice college face a number of negative consequences. This was Coalition of Asian American Associations (CAAA) and Asian American Coalition for Education's (AACE) primary argument in their formal complaints filed to the US…

As there is a paucity of research in the creation of a social media marketing framework for higher education administration and marketing managers. This study sought to create a framework for higher education and the use of social media in current recruitment strategies. Through the lens of current, successful business marketing models, this study…

The underrepresentation of people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds in geology, geophysics, and other STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is well documented in the United States. Only two universities out of about 107 HBCUs have geology and geophysics degree programs, even though there are…

Most selective colleges implemented test-optional admissions during the pandemic, making college entrance exam scores optional for applicants. We draw on descriptive, two-way fixed effects, and event study methods to examine variation in test-optional implementation during the pandemic and how implementation relates to selectivity and enrollment.…

Using the detailed college level data from the College Scorecard on students' post-college earnings from the near universe of four-year colleges, we assess the usefulness of going beyond comparing colleges based only on median earnings and analyze the descriptive relationship between college selectivity and earnings outcomes and how this…

More than a quarter of Americans--around 100 million people--have been arrested and/or convicted of a crime. Being "criminal justice system-impacted" (Underground Scholars Initiative 2019) has many social and economic consequences, including far lower chances of accessing and succeeding in higher education. Some observers raise safety…

This article reports on the validity of the admi (MMI) method as it was used by a post-degree teacher education program as part of their admissions process to select candidates for entry into the program. The MMI, primarily used for medical school admittance, involves several stations with different interviewers. Comparisons were made between the…

Since the post-George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots of last summer, the left has become increasingly insistent about the need to "do more" to eliminate what it sees as "systemic racism"--a demand that implicitly, and often explicitly, rejects as woefully inadequate the results of what is by now almost fifty…

England has a 'pre-qualification' system of higher education admissions, where applications and offers are made to young people before exam results are received. While in most cases offers are conditional on achieving a grade target in A Level exams, recent years have seen an exponential growth in 'unconditional offers', where the offer of a place…

I study the efficacy of test-based meritocracy in college admissions by evaluating the impact of a grade-based "top percent'' policy implemented by the University of California. Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) provided large admission advantages to the top four percent of 2001-2011 graduates from each California high school. I…

The purpose of this study was to understand how counselor educators perceive their gatekeeping role in assessing prospective students' personal characteristics as a relevant factor in graduate program admissions screening. A literature review revealed the subject of gatekeeping and evaluating learners for intellectual, interpersonal, and ethical…

There is debate over whether Asian American students are admitted to selective colleges and universities at lower rates than white students with similar academic qualifications. However, there have been few empirical investigations of this issue, in large part due to a dearth of data. Here we present the results from analyzing 685,709 applications…

Affirmative action in higher education can lead to mismatch, where students admitted through preferential treatment struggle academically due to inadequate preparation before college. Although some students may face initial challenges, by providing access to quality education for talented individuals who might have otherwise been overlooked due to…