White students with similar test scores and grades to Asian students are more likely to be accepted to elite schools, largely due to legacy admissions and geographic bias, a new study revealed.
The study from the National Bureau of Economic Research assessed “the disparate impacts of college admissions policies on Asian American applicants” and found that Asian Americans were disadvantaged even when compared to white students, who were 28% more likely to earn admittance to elite colleges.
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The study offers further evidence of the admissions hurdles faced by Asian American college applicants when compared to students of other races. Asians have long alleged that they face significantly more scrutiny in college admissions and that colleges have taken steps to limit the number of Asian students who attend elite schools.
The claim of racial discrimination against Asians by the nation’s top universities was the basis for a lawsuit against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina by Students for Fair Admissions, a group of Asian students who accused the Ivy League school of deliberately holding the number of Asian students at a certain threshold.
The case made its way to the Supreme Court, and in June, the high court ruled in favor of the student group and said that colleges could no longer consider an applicant’s race when making admissions decisions.
The new study says that white students typically had an advantage of admission because of family history at the school or because their parents had donated money to the institution. This practice, known as legacy admissions, has drawn renewed scrutiny in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision. A number of schools have since announced they will no longer engage in the practice.
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The study authors also said that the schools “after adjusting for observed student characteristics” were more likely to reject applications from students living in areas known to have a higher Asian population.
The study also found that Southeast Asian applicants were even more likely to be disadvantaged than other Asian students, with those students having a 49% increased likelihood of being passed over for admission.
