Affirmative Action in College Admissions
In the coming months, the issue of affirmative action in college admissions will be going before the Supreme Court. This divisive issue arose once again when a student who applied to the University of Texas sued the college on the grounds that she was not accepted because she was white. Truthfully, race is an important factor in admissions for colleges who want a more diverse student body. A common trend of varying standards for different races has recently been seen - specifically, Asian students must have the highest scores to be admitted to certain colleges, followed by white students, Hispanic students, and African-American students. Although these policies may be unfair to qualified students of historically higher-achieving races, they have also succeeded in providing great opportunities for students of historically lower-achieving races. So, is the use of affirmative action in college admissions a useful tool in increasing the diversity and fairness of our nation? Or is it an outdated system that shafts qualified students who are just the wrong race?
Yes, it should be allowed
Side Score: 1
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No, it should not be allowed
Side Score: 3
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All things being equal, if you can prove college admissions officers are racists and deny X number of applications on race alone, then I think we may need to counteract that with a law. I'm not sure you can prove that anymore or not. Also, there is something to be said about the benefit to society if kids can mix and form relationships with people and races they have not been exposed to in a major way. For many young people, going to college is the first time they have been out on their own, away from their parents and churches and social class ideology. One could argue that diversity is part of the learning experience and important for citizens of our society, and that a homogeneous school would not give a student a "full" education. Side: Yes, it should be allowed
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College admissions should be based on merit! Universities should not sacrifice the creation of a high-achieving class in order to promote diversity, a quality which absolutely should not be unnaturally forced upon a campus. Our nation has made great strides in reducing discrimination; the last thing we need is to encourage lower standards for Hispanic and African-American students through a system that accepts students who are not as qualified as others but have a background that would encourage diversity. Everyone should be given a fair chance. Side: No, it should not be allowed
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Affirmative action is nothing more than an inadequate patch that hides the actual problem, namely the inequity of opportunity earlier on in our educational systems. You cannot solve the problem so far down the road, and in attempting to do so you just wrong even more people in the process. Side: No, it should not be allowed
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