Poll on Affirmative Action

There is no topic that we cover on the pages of this college admissions blog that elicits a stronger reaction than Affirmative Action — particularly from our more conservative readers. Or maybe it’s just one particular reader in Brentwood, Tennessee writing under various pseudonyms. Hey, some fish. Others knit. And still others write daily comments over the course of years on our college admissions blog. Who’s to say what’s fun? In any case, on the topic of Affirmative Action, as the Affirmative Action cases before the Supreme Court draw near, there’s a new poll out conducted by CRC Research that found 59% of respondents — a majority — disapprove of racial preference in college admissions decision-making.

As Caroline Downey reports for Yahoo News in a piece entitled “Poll: Majority of Americans Disapprove of Affirmative Action in College Admissions,” “An 85 Fund poll conducted by CRC Research found that 59 percent of respondents disapprove of colleges and universities considering a prospective student’s race or ethnicity when making admissions decisions. Only 29 percent approve, and 12 percent are unsure. Respondents were selected randomly from opt-in panel participants for the September 14–18 polling. Most Americans, 58 percent, still want colleges and universities to judge applications based on credentials, test scores, and other qualifications rather than racial identification, even if it means that fewer minority students are represented in the student body…Overall, 54 percent of Americans are concerned about the fact that ‘Asian applicants as a whole have higher test scores but lower rates of admission at Harvard University.’ On that question, Americans who fall into the three major ideological political categories are in agreement that Harvard’s conduct is troubling, including 53 percent of conservatives, 53 percent of moderates, and 58 percent of liberals.”

Stay tuned for updates on the Harvard and UNC cases that will soon decide the fate of Affirmative Action in America.