College Admissions in the United States

Abstract

By the simplest of definitions, college admissions represents a process of entry leading to enrollment in some form of postsecondary education—a process that ensures an institution is identified, paperwork is completed, qualifications are confirmed, and the student chooses an institution in which to enroll. This definitional simplicity, however, belies the complex and highly contestable nature of the college admissions process and the role it plays in ongoing debates over social status mobility, merit, and the equitable nature of K–12 schooling opportunities. How college admissions has evolved into a touchstone for such heady debate is in large part the result of a confluence of factors: a well-established correlation between a college degree and lifetime income earnings, a dramatic increase over the past fifty years in the number of students who both aspire and ultimately enroll in some form of postsecondary education, and a desire by colleges to gain greater market advantage through improving their comparative standing, which relies heavily on admissions selectivity, reputation, and alumni giving as well as success in the job market. These demographic and economic shifts have resulted in similar shifts in public sentiment over the value of higher education to future life chances and the conversion of a four-year degree to income earnings over the lifespan. A great body of research has provided insight into the macro- and micro-level forces that mediate postsecondary opportunity. The brief essays and citation lists provided in this article capture some of this complexity by conceptualizing the college admissions process as a field of activity that, as educational researchers have so often argued, contributes to a form of social sorting vis-à-vis the interactions of institutions, individuals, and marketplace forces. This article begins by suggesting that the college admissions process is best characterized as a series of choices related to college going as mediated by race, class, and gender. Also considered in this discussion is the influence of K–12 settings on sustaining (and derailing) educational aspirations. Highlighted research also focuses on the influence of outreach and families on individual college aspirations, institutional strategic decision making that drives the admissions marketplace, as well as the often confounding ways in which business and public policy interests test the standards of fairness via special admissions considerations. Finally, this article offers some key resource options for further study on college admissions and related topics.