Ahead of Two College Admissions Supreme Court Cases, Merkley, Bowman, Wilson Urge Department of Education to Address Racial and Ethnic Gaps in Higher Education

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, along with Representatives Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24), led 15 of their colleagues in a letter urging the Department of Education (ED) to better address racial and ethnic gaps in higher education access and attainment by expanding the collection of college admissions data. 

“Despite a shrinking difference in racial and ethnic gaps of high school diploma attainment, there remains a significant and worrisome gap between Black, Hispanic, and Native American adults and white adults in the attainment of bachelor’s degrees,” wrote the lawmakers.

In order for policymakers and other stakeholders to adequately understand and address these gaps, more data is needed.

“We are deeply concerned with the persistent racial inequities in access to postsecondary education and in the attainment of bachelor’s degrees; to adequately address the issue, researchers, leaders, and policymakers require more information,” the lawmakers continued. “As such, we urge ED to use its authority […] to expand its collection and dissemination of admissions data while also disaggregating that data by race, ethnicity and gender.”

The lawmakers’ letter highlights that ED does not currently collect data on legacy preferences, early decision, or early action admissions, which have shown to negatively impact diversity and equity at the colleges that employ these admissions options. ED also does not collect disaggregated data for applicants or admitted applicants based on race or ethnicity, further complicating the effort to address longstanding inequities in higher education.

“The need for transparency in college admissions may become even more important should the Supreme Court end the consideration of race-conscious admissions policies later this year. Race-conscious admissions policies are a critical tool for advancing racial equity, diversity, and access in higher education,” they wrote. “After the elimination of such practices in both California and Texas, admissions rates for Black and Hispanic students dropped precipitously, leading to long-term, negative effects on the income and social mobility of Black and Hispanic communities, many of whom were denied access to the personal, professional, and socioeconomic growth so often facilitated by higher education.”

In order to increase transparency and close the gap on higher education attainment, the lawmakers’ letter specifically asks ED to include three new components to its data collection efforts:

1. Racial and ethnic demographic data for applicants, admits, and enrollments;
2. whether an institution of higher education (IHE) uses legacy preferences; and
3. whether an IHE uses early action or early decision admissions.

The letter also asks that the last two questions account for the number of applications, admits, and enrollments that are impacted by those categories to be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status.

“The inclusion of these three components would allow for stakeholders to track racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities throughout the entirety of the admissions process and see how the practices of legacy admissions and early decision impact access and diversity in higher education,” the lawmakers conclude. “Increasing transparency is a powerful signal that this administration can send about its commitment to diversity and access in postsecondary education.”

Merkley and Bowman are the authors of the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, which would end the practice of colleges and universities giving legacy admissions preferences to the children of alumni and donors. Joining Merkley, Bowman, and Wilson in today’s letter are Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) as well as Representatives Jill Tokuda (D-HI-02), André Carson (D-IN-07), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Shontel Brown (D-OH-11), Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), Alma Adams (D-NC-12), Troy Carter (D-LA-02),  Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03), Greg Casar (D-TX-35), and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-05).

The lawmakers’ letter echoes a similar request made by education and civil rights advocacy organizations including Education Reform Now, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, National Urban League, The Education Trust, The Institute for College Access and Success, College Promise, UnidosUS, Third Way, and others.

“Far too many students are left out of higher education. It’s imperative that leaders commit to holding colleges and universities accountable to admitting diverse student bodies. In order to do so, we need greater transparency in college admissions. By expanding the breadth of admissions data collected and disaggregating it by race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, the Department of Education would shine a light on which schools are serving as gatekeepers to privilege and which schools are making a commitment to equity and social mobility,” said Shakira Petit, Interim CEO, Education Reform Now.

Full text of the letter can be found here and follows below:

Dear Mr. Kvaal,

We write today to encourage the Department of Education (ED) to expand its collection of admissions data in order to help address long-standing racial and ethnic inequities in higher education access and attainment.

Despite a shrinking difference in racial and ethnic gaps of high school diploma attainment[1], there remains a significant and worrisome gap between Black, Hispanic, and Native American adults and white adults in the attainment of bachelor’s degrees. According to Census Bureau Data, the percentage of white adults that receive a bachelor’s degree or higher is 41.9%, while Black adults and Hispanic adults attain bachelor’s degrees at 28.1% and 20.6% respectively.[2] Such disparities reflect continued inequities in access to high quality, affordable education from early childhood through higher education resulting from centuries of discrimination against and redlining of Black and Brown communities.

We are deeply concerned with the persistent racial inequities in access to postsecondary education and in the attainment of bachelor’s degrees; to adequately address the issue, researchers, leaders, and policymakers require more information. As such, we urge ED to use its authority under the Education Sciences Reform Act (Pub.L. 107-279) and with the additional funds provided to the Institute for Education Sciences in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub.L. 117-73) to expand its collection and dissemination of admissions data while also disaggregating that data by race, ethnicity and gender.

While ED’s current efforts in data collection and dissemination through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) have been exceedingly useful in creating a baseline of transparency and accountability, serious blind spots remain. Currently, ED does not collect disaggregated data for applicants or admitted applicants based on race or ethnicity. Nor does ED collect data on legacy preferences or early decision or early action plans’ impact on admission, which have shown to have negative effects on diversity and equity at selective colleges across the nation.[3]^{, [4]} While we are pleased to see the inclusion of a question on the 2022-2023 IPEDS survey on whether a college considers legacy status of applicants, the data point will remain incomplete if IPEDS does not collect information on how many students actually benefit from these preferences.

The need for transparency in college admissions may become even more important should the Supreme Court end the consideration of race-conscious admissions policies later this year. Race-conscious admissions policies are a critical tool for advancing racial equity, diversity, and access in higher education. After the elimination of such practices in both California and Texas, admissions rates for Black and Hispanic students dropped precipitously, leading to long-term, negative effects on the income and social mobility of Black and Hispanic communities, many of whom were denied access to the personal, professional, and socioeconomic growth so often facilitated by higher education.

In pursuit of achieving the goal of greater transparency and accountability in the college admissions process, we ask that ED act on its directive under the Education Sciences Reform Act—to “collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to the condition and progress of postsecondary education, including access to and opportunity for postsecondary education,”—by expanding its data collection to include:

1. Racial and ethnic demographic data for applications and admits, not just enrollments.
2. Whether an institution of higher education considers an alumni relation in its admissions process and, if it does, the number of applications, admits, and enrollments that fall under this category, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status when possible.
3. Whether an institution of higher education offers an early decision or early action plan as part of its admissions process and, if it does, the number of applications, admits, and enrollments that fall under this category, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status when possible.

The inclusion of these three components would allow for stakeholders to track racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities throughout the entirety of the admissions process and see how the practices of legacy admissions and early decision impact access and diversity in higher education. Their inclusion also does not pose a meaningful administrative burden on institutes of higher education, as many already collect this data and use it for internal purposes. These new requirements would simply make the data public for the purposes of furthering transparency and accountability throughout the admissions process. Increasing transparency is a powerful signal that this administration can send about its commitment to diversity and access in postsecondary education.

We value the ED’s commitment to equity and opportunity in higher education and welcome the opportunity to work with the agency to implement these changes and increased data collection.

Sincerely,

###