Admissions Innovations in Global Contexts – Michigan Admissions Collaboratory

Baker, Dominique J., and Michael N. Bastedo. 2022 (in press). “What If We Leave It Up to Chance? Admissions Lotteries and Equitable Access at Selective Colleges.” Educational Researcher.

Many prominent social scientists have advocated for random-draw lotteries as a solution to the “problem” of elite college admissions. They argue that lotteries will be fair and equitable, eliminate corruption, reduce student anxiety, restore democratic ideals, and end debates over race-conscious admissions. In response, we simulate potential lottery effects on student enrollment by race, gender, and income, using robust simulation methods and multiple minimum thresholds for grades and standardized tests. In the overwhelming majority of lottery simulations, the proportions of low-income students and students of color drop precipitously. With a GPA minimum, we find the proportion of men could drop as low as one-third. Admissions lotteries with minimum bars for GPA and/or standardized tests do not appear to produce more equitable outcomes.

Bastedo, Michael. 2021. “Holistic Admissions as a Global Phenomenon.” In Heather Eggins, Anna Smolentseva, & Hans de Wit (Eds.), The Next Decade: Challenges for Global Higher Education. Leiden: Brill.

Globally, standards for college selection have been historically dominated by national entrance examinations, with the U.S. an outlier in its development of holistic review for selective universities. This chapter discusses the gradual diffusion of elements of the U.S. holistic model to other admissions systems around the world, including Australia, China, England, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, and South Korea. There are many drivers of the move to holistic admissions, including student anxiety, stifled creativity and innovation, rote learning for examinations, shadow education, stratification and inequality, and workforce preparation. Serious concerns are raised across country contexts, however, including transparency, fairness, equity, and corruption.