SAT scores hit a 30-year low in 2006, and the numbers last year mark back-to-back declines for the first time since 1991, with Black and Latino students most affected, according to the latest numbers from the College Board. 

At the same time, elite colleges are relying on SAT scores more than ever in the admissions process, according to new analysis of College Board data, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

If, as the new research suggests, colleges continue to rely heavily on SAT scores--which College Board data consistently indicates are correlated with wealth and preparation--how will this affect access for Black and Latino students to higher education? And how will this in turn impact the talent pool from which companies  choose the future work force?

What's Going On?

A new study titled "Is 1500 the New 1280?" paints a disturbing portrait of the state of higher education's reliance on SAT scores and the impact it has on student diversity.

Elite colleges have granted an increasing share of freshman spots to students with high SAT scores over the last few decades, but the number of students with these top scores hasn't increased by nearly the same proportions in that time period, according to research from Catherine Horn, an assistant professor of educational leadership and cultural studies at the University of Houston, and John Yun, assistant professor of education at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

After analyzing freshman SAT scores at 19 of the 30 highest-ranked institutions in U.S. News and World Report's annual guide, Horn and Yun found that more than 30 percent of the freshmen at 15 of these institutions had verbal scores higher than 700. In 1979, only one of the top 30 universities enrolled a freshman class with more than 30 percent having verbal scores higher than 700. In 2007, 78 percent of entering freshmen at Yale, 67 percent at Stanford and 54 percent at the University of Pennsylvania had verbal scores of 700 or higher. In 1989, these numbers were 33 percent, 24 percent and 9 percent, respectively. 

The findings are published in a forthcoming book, Realizing Bakke's Legacy, which will be released in June to honor the 30th anniversary of that landmark Supreme Court decision, which upheld the interest of diversity in a student body and affirmative action as a means to achieve that. Learn more about Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and school integration.

Why Is This Problematic?

Wealthier students are making up an increasing share of SAT-takers, reports Inside HigherEd. Students from families that earn more than $100,000 a year now comprise 26 percent of SAT-takers--a larger representation than any other income group--up from 21 percent in 2005. Students from families earning $30,000 or less each year are now 18 percent of the testing pool, down from 25 percent in 2005. 

Consumer Reports found that online SAT-preparatory programs can cost up to $500. SAT scores also increase by income level, with students in the highest bracket scoring a mean 1637 in 2007 and those in the lowest scoring 1301, according to College Board data.

Since Black and Latino students tend to come from lower-income families than whites, proportionally, these students have less means to get training to improve their test scores. As elite institutions rely more on these in admissions, the racial/ethnic disparities in SAT scores may be blocking their access to top-tier learning institutions.

In 2007, the College Board experienced its most racially diverse class of SAT-takers, according to this press release, touting unprecedented numbers of Black and Latino test takers and non-native-English-speaking test takers as a "good news story." But the test results aren't good news. Download the College Board's report.

The Affirmative-Action Battle

Critics of affirmative action are using the new data on SAT scores to back up the claim that universities and colleges that seek to increase diversity by eliminating or making optional SAT requirements are lowering their standards, reports Inside HigherEd. But as The Chronicle reports, "Especially among the most prestigious of the 30 institutions, it is hard to believe that putting less emphasis on high SAT scores would cause the institutions' quality to suffer."

At the same time, Ward Connerly, who successfully campaigned to ban affirmative action in public education, employment and contracting in California, Washington state and most recently, Michigan, is trying to do the same in five more states in 2008. Read Affirmative Action on the Line in 5 States: Ward Connerly's 'Super Tuesday' to learn more.  

In 2003, the now-retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the majority opinion in one of the highest-profile affirmative-action cases of all time--Grutter v. Bollinger, which involved affirmative-action policies at the University of Michigan Law School. O'Connor wrote that diversity was a "compelling interest" in a student body, and at this point in time could not be achieved without some type of affirmative action. She said it would probably be another 25 years before higher education could develop a level playing field.

Given the current climate, however, does her prophecy have a chance of becoming a reality? "Nothing suggests we will meet Justice O'Connor's prediction," Gary Orfield, cofounder and director of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Inside HigherEd. "I think these trends suggest it will get worse."

This happens as Ivy League institutions are expanding tuition assistance for middle- and low-income students as part of an effort to increase student diversity. But is that enough? Educational experts suggest they need to revamp their admissions policies to reflect the changing work-force and talent needs of U.S. companies.

Elite schools that rely heavily on SAT scores are "increasing the competition for high-scoring minority students, and potentially 'simply 'pricing' themselves out of the 'market' for a more diverse learning environment," reports The Chronicle.

Graduating from an elite institution opens many doors for students that may be more difficult to access otherwise, but increasingly, progressive companies in corporate America recognize they can't rely on name-brand colleges and universities exclusively, especially when those entities use SAT scores as the primary means of defining "talent."

Read Does a Southern Alma Mater Limit Opportunities? to learn more and find out why the White Guy says "association almost always means acceptance."

What Next? Holistic Review

Some colleges and universities are starting to figure it out: Relying on exclusionary qualifications such as the SAT undermines efforts to diversify the talent pool, and making SATs optional can actually boost college-student performance.

A pilot program at Salisbury University in Maryland that makes the SAT optional for students with grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher is setting the stage for larger universities to do the same. Non-SAT students had higher grade-point averages and earned more credits during their first semesters, and financial aid awarded to non-SAT students was 10 percent higher than those who submitted SAT scores, according to the university, reports Inside Higher Ed.

Twenty-six of the top 100 liberal-arts colleges as measured by U.S. News & World Report now do not require SATs. Could this mark the beginning of a new trend?

Evaluating students--or job applicants--based on a finite, quantitative set of qualifications excludes many, particularly Blacks and Latinos, who could add value in other ways. Colleges and universities that conduct a holistic review--taking a look at extracurricular activities, volunteer work, background and experience outside of the classroom--say this practice provides a fuller picture of an applicant's true qualifications.

"The more we can know about each individual student who applies, the better informed our admissions decisions are," writes University of Washington President Mark A. Emmert in a commentary for the Christian Science Monitor. "The results so far are promising: The academic level of our entering students is as good as it had been prior to holistic review, and the student body is more diverse."  

More Affirmative Action >>

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