Expanding Access to Higher Education: The Case for Using Minority Quotas or Reserves to Increase Diversity

Abstract

This project report aims to explore the use of minority quotas or minority reserves as a means of increasing diversity in university admissions and widening access. The report provides a critical review of the literature on this topic, outlines the benefits and drawbacks of using quotas and reserves, and presents a mathematical model which introduces a fairness constraint to the Men-proposing Deferred Acceptance (DA) Algorithm to address the issues of underrepresented minority groups and promote diversity in the college admissions process. The model is used to match students and schools in a way that maximizes diversity while maintaining fairness and efficiency. This report provides proof and computational results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. The report draws on Alvin E. Roth's The Art of Designing Markets to underscore the importance of designing effective market mechanisms that address the challenges of diversity and equity in university admissions. The report concludes that minority quotas and reserves can be effective tools for promoting diversity and social justice in higher education, but that they must be implemented carefully and in conjunction with other policies aimed at addressing structural inequalities.