Published by Forbes
More than two-thirds of white high school students say they rely on family and friends for help with college admissions. By contrast, only 38% of Black students say their families give them admissions advice.
Many American appear to think that Black students benefit from college admissions offices that want to increase diversity on predominantly white campuses. But a new survey shows that white applicants have a significant advantage over their Black peers.
The survey was conducted in September by Art & Science Group, which advises colleges on their enrollment strategies. The Baltimore-based company used Qualtrics, a market analytics company owned by SAP, to administer the online survey. The respondents were 734 American high school students who said they planned to apply to attend a four-year college in the fall of 2022. The students attend both public and private schools nationwide.
Art & Science principal David Strauss says his company conducts surveys in order to better advise its clients on their strategic approach to higher education. That includes how best to admit a diverse class of students. “We were trying to find out where the pressure points are,” he says.
Though he’s not surprised by the survey’s results, he believes they are important. Two other findings: White and Asian students plan to apply to more colleges (four) than Black students (three). White students are also more likely to have gone on campus tours (38% vs. 23%). Says Strauss, “This is another piece of data that tells us advantage begets advantage.”
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The Art & Science survey concludes: “colleges and universities will need to find more creative ways to reach students who are less likely to have social capital and work harder to ensure that these students understand what is distinctive about the institution and why these distinctions should matter to them as they choose where to apply.“