College Students’ Attitudes Toward Denying Admission to Prospective Students with Criminal Records

ABSTRACTEach year, thousands of prospective students are denied admission to universities because they possess a criminal record. Prior research finds that university officials and faculty are generally accepting of those with records attending universities. To date, few studies have examined the perspectives of college students on this matter. The current study adds to this literature by examining college students’ (n = 846) attitudes toward denying individuals admission to universities based on possessing a criminal record. The results reveal general opposition toward denying prospective students solely on the basis of possessing a record. However, divisions exist among students and fall on factors related to criminal justice system contact and racial, punitive, and political viewpoints.KEYWORDS: attitudescollege admissionscriminal recordssurvey research Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsAlexander L. BurtonAlexander L. Burton is an Assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at The University of Texas at Dallas. His research primarily focuses on crorrections and public policy and has been published in Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, and Justice Quarterly.Haley N. PuddyHaley N. Puddy is a doctoral student in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at The University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests include crime and justice policySunmin HongSunmin Hong is a doctoral student in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at The Univeristy of Texas at Dallas. His resaerch interests include cybercrime, cyberspace, and criminal record-related policies.Velmer S. BurtonVelmer S. Burton Jr. is a Fellow in the Center for Justice and Communities at the University of Cincinnati. His research has been published in Criminology, the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Justice Quarterly.William T. MillerWilliam T. Miller is a Research Associate at the University of Cincinnati Center for Criminal Justice Research. His research focuses on the evaluation of court programs and policies intended to increase access to justice for marginalized groups.