College Board Discontinues Tool That Helped Colleges And Universities Find High School Students From Disadvantaged Areas
As political pressure mounts, the College Board has discontinued a tool that helped disadvantaged students.
The Trump administration and conservative groups have criticized diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. This has led to the elimination of DEIA offices and initiatives at the federal level, as AFROTECH™ previously told you.
The education system has also been impacted. Earlier this year, Trump issued a deadline for universities to no longer consider “racial preferences” in admissions, financial aid, or hiring, stating that failure to comply could threaten access to federal funding. One of the schools to push back was Harvard University.
The administration ultimately placed a $2.3 billion federal freeze on its research funding when it didn’t comply with orders. The White House further wanted an external panel to audit faculty, staff, and students to ensure “viewpoint diversity,” claiming the university “failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment.” It also flagged antisemitic and anti-Muslim bias on the campus, which Harvard said it would address.
The university responded by suing the Trump administration, and U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that the funding freeze was unconstitutional in September, per CNN.
College Board
The College Board has now joined the list of those changing their practices under the new administration.
According to The New York Times, the organizer of the SAT exam had released a tool called Landscape that was useful in helping colleges find high schoolers from disadvantaged schools and neighborhoods. But recently, Landscape was being reviewed by the anti-affirmative-action group Students for Fair Admissions, the group that sued Harvard University and North Carolina-Chapel Hill, leading to the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action. Additionally, the White House is also reviewing schools that are relying on “hidden racial proxies” to find minority applicants, The New York Times mentioned.
“Any tool that allows admissions offices to consider race by proxy is a legal and reputation risk,” Edward Blum, founder of Students for Fair Admission, explained in an email, according to The New York Times.
In a statement, College Board said that Landscape “was intentionally developed without the use or consideration of data on race or ethnicity,” but it is being discontinued.
“Since 2016, Landscape has provided consistent information about high schools and neighborhoods to help colleges understand more about where students live and learn. It was intentionally developed without the use or consideration of data on race or ethnicity,” the statement read. “As federal and state policy continues to evolve around how institutions use demographic and geographic information in admissions, we are making a change to ensure our work continues to effectively serve students and institutions.”
It added, “Landscape will be discontinued. We will continue to provide colleges and universities with data on SAT and AP performance, and we remain committed to supporting educational opportunity and meeting the needs of institutions and students alike.”
