Affirmative Action for the Rich

Affirmative Action for the Rich
Author: Richard D. Kahlenberg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780870785191

The use of race-based affirmative action in higher education has given rise to hundreds of books and law review articles, numerous court decisions, and several state initiatives to ban the practice. However, surprisingly little has been said or written or done to challenge a larger, longstanding "affirmative action" program that tends to benefit wealthy whites: legacy preferences for the children of alumni. "Affirmative Action for the Rich" sketches the origins of legacy preferences, examines the philosophical issues they raise, outlines the extent of their use today, studies their impact on university fundraising, and reviews their implications for civil rights. In addition, the book outlines two new theories challenging the legality of legacy preferences, examines how a judge might review those claims, and assesses public policy options for curtailing alumni preferences. The book includes chapters by Michael Lind of the New America Foundation; Peter Schmidt of the "Chronicle of Higher Education"; former "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Golden; Chad Coffman of Winnemac Consulting, attorney Tara O'Neil, and student Brian Starr; John Brittain of the University of the District of Columbia Law School and attorney Eric Bloom; Carlton Larson of the University of California--Davis School of Law; attorneys Steve Shadowen and Sozi Tulante; Sixth Circuit Court Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr. and attorney Donya Khalili; and education writer Peter Sacks.

Monthly Checklist of State Publications

Monthly Checklist of State Publications
Author: Library of Congress. Exchange and Gift Division
Publisher:
Total Pages: 748
Release: 1991
Genre: State government publications
ISBN:

June and Dec. issues contain listings of periodicals.

American Indians and Alaska Natives in Postsecondary Education

American Indians and Alaska Natives in Postsecondary Education
Author: D. Michael Pavel
Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 430
Release: 1998
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

This sourcebook is a comprehensive compilation of data on American Indian and Alaska Native participation in higher education, primarily 4-year and 2-year universities and colleges, including tribal colleges. Data cover undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty, as well as student outcomes following graduation. Data sources include the National Center for Education Statistics, the Bureau of the Census, and various published surveys and reports. The introduction explains terminology, data limitations, and structure of the sourcebook. Chapters cover: (1) American Indian and Alaska Native demography and a historical overview of Native American postsecondary education in the United States; (2) Native American access to higher education in terms of high school performance and graduation, scores on college entrance examinations, and student risk factors; (3) Native postsecondary enrollment, 1976-94, (by institution level and control and student sex, attendance status, degree level, major field of study, institution, and state), as well as student persistence and graduation rates; (4) degree completions, characteristics of degree recipients, and institutions awarding the largest number of degrees to Native Americans; (5) receipt and use of student financial aid; (6) American Indian and Alaska Native college faculty and staff, salaries, tenure, and distribution; and (7) historical overview and highlights of each of the 30 tribal colleges. Many data tables and figures are included. Appendices contain 80 references, supplemental data tables for the first six chapters, standard error tables, a glossary and list of acronyms, and over 200 additional sources of information. (SV)

The Merit Myth

The Merit Myth
Author: Anthony P. Carnevale
Publisher: The New Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2020-05-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1620974878

An eye-opening and timely look at how colleges drive the very inequalities they are meant to remedy, complete with a call—and a vision—for change Colleges fiercely defend America's deeply stratified higher education system, arguing that the most exclusive schools reward the brightest kids who have worked hard to get there. But it doesn't actually work this way. As the recent college-admissions bribery scandal demonstrates, social inequalities and colleges' pursuit of wealth and prestige stack the deck in favor of the children of privilege. For education scholar and critic Anthony P. Carnevale, it's clear that colleges are not the places of aspiration and equal opportunity they claim to be. The Merit Myth calls out our elite colleges for what they are: institutions that pay lip service to social mobility and meritocracy, while offering little of either. Through policies that exacerbate inequality, including generously funding so-called merit-based aid for already-wealthy students rather than expanding opportunity for those who need it most, U.S. universities—the presumed pathway to a better financial future—are woefully complicit in reproducing the racial and class privilege across generations that they pretend to abhor. This timely and incisive book argues for unrigging the game by dramatically reducing the weight of the SAT/ACT; measuring colleges by their outcomes, not their inputs; designing affirmative action plans that take into consideration both race and class; and making 14 the new 12—guaranteeing every American a public K–14 education. The Merit Myth shows the way for higher education to become the beacon of opportunity it was intended to be.