Economic Inequality and College Admissions Policies

Abstract

As economic inequality in the United States has reached unprecedented heights, reformers have focused considerable attention on changes in the law that would provide for greater equality in wealth among Americans. Much benefit would result from more equitable tax policies, fairer workplace regulation, and more generous spending policies.But there may be even more to gain by revising college admissions policies. Admissions policies at the Ivy League and other elite American colleges do much to exacerbate the problem of economic inequality. Accordingly, reforms of those policies may represent the most effective strategy for restoring a reasonable degree of economic equality in the United States.The need to address economic inequality should provide sufficient reason for selective universities to revise their admissions policies. But they also may not have any choice in the matter. The U.S. Supreme Court will be reconsidering its doctrine on affirmative action in its upcoming Term and may well conclude that college admissions offices -- public or private -- may no longer take an applicant’s race or ethnicity into account when making their admissions’ decisions.Fortunately, there is an important alternative to traditional admissions policies for elite universities to consider -- top class rank policies. Indeed, some public universities already have adopted top class rank policies in lieu of affirmative action to promote student body diversity. While the impact on student diversity is a key feature of top rank policies, this article focuses on another critical benefit of the policies -- their ability to turn elite universities from institutions that exacerbate economic inequality into institutions that foster economic equality.