STUDENT DIVERSITY AT THE BIG THREE: CHANGES AT HARVARD, YALE, AND PRINCETON SINCE THE 1920S

Book ID/图书代码： 13149013B64734

English Summary/英文概要： Strengthening affirmative action programs and fighting discrimination present challenges to America’s best private and public universities. US college enrollments swelled from 2.6 million students in 1955 to 17.5 million by 2005. Ivy League universities, specifically Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, face significant challenges in maintaining their professed goal to educate a reasonable number of students from all ethnic, racial, religious, and socio-economic groups while maintaining the loyalty of their alumni.

College admissions officers in these elite universities have the daunting task of selecting a balanced student body. Added to their challenges, the economic recession of 2008-2009 negatively impacted potential applicants from lower-income families. Evidence suggests that high Standard Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are correlated with a family’s socioeconomic status. Thus, the problem of selecting the "best" students from an ever-increasing pool of applicants may render standardized admissions tests a less desirable selection mechanism.

The next admissions battle may be whether well-endowed universities should commit themselves to a form of class-based affirmative action in order to balance the socioeconomic advantages of well-to-do families. Such a policy would improve prospects for students who may have ambitions for an education that is beyond their reach without preferential treatment. As in past decades, admissions policies may remain a question of balances and preferences. Nevertheless, the elite universities are handling admission decisions with determination and far less prejudice than in earlier eras.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 现如今，美国最好的私立、公立大学都遭遇了增加奖学金项目和反对歧视浪潮的双重挑战。在过去的几十年里，美国大学的招生人数从1955年的260万飙升至2005年的1750万。令莘莘学子无限向往的常春藤联盟,尤其是哈佛、耶鲁和普林斯顿这三所精英大学, 在保持校友们对母校忠诚度的同时，它们长期以来的目标——（把培养各民族、各种族、各宗教和不同社会经济团体的学生为己任）遭受了巨大的挑战。

近几年来，这些精英大学的招生办负责人在如何挑选全能学生方面，面临着艰巨的任务。除了他们本身所面对的挑战之外,美国 2008 – 2009年间席卷全球的金融危机对低收入家庭的孩子产生了不可小觑的负面影响。证据表明,有着美国高考之称的SAT的考试分数与一个家庭的社会经济地位有着紧密的联系。因此,从迅猛增长的申请者中选拔“最优秀”的学生可能给标准化入学考试提供了一种不太令人满意的选拔机制。

对于这些“财源广进”的优秀大学来说，接下来的“招生大战”可能在于它们是否应该制定一种倾向于低收入家庭孩子的奖学金计划。这样的政策将为那些有雄心壮志而没有较好的经济条件的孩子提供更广阔的教育前景。因为在过去的几十年里,这些大学招生政策的公平性受到了很多人的质疑。因此,精英大学决定摒弃以前的各种偏见，为更多全方面发展的学生提供入学机会。(Susie)

Awards/获奖情况：“Professor Synnott’s exhaustive research from a wide array of sources demonstrates the degrees to which Jewish, black, women, disabled, LGBTQ students, and other minority groups have been admitted to these elite institutions, and how they have fared once enrolled. She illuminates the manner in which changes in federal policies, for example, “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the military, have impacts on campus programs and student life. Rather than advocating for an overall change in the way elite institutions admit students, Synnott lets the reader decide whether the current approach, favoring children of alumni/ae but also awarding generous need-based financial aid, is consonant with values of meritocracy.” —Leslie Miller-Bernal, professor emeritus of sociology, Wells College, and co-editor of Going Coed

“This is an exhaustive study of admissions practices at Harvard, Yale and Princeton from the 1920s through the present. Marcia Synnott is the authority on this topic. This well researched book, with previously untapped sources, includes not only the discriminatory admissions policies and practices toward Jews, Catholics, African Americans, and later GLBTQ and disabled students. Synnott shows the transformation of admissions policies from the exclusion of Jews to their now serving as presidents of these institutions. This is a significant study and brings the discussion of admissions at the most selective institutions in the nation up to date.” —Linda M. Perkins, associate university professor and director of applied women’s studies and Africana Studies Certificate Program

About the Author/作者介绍： Marcia Graham Synnott是南卡罗来纳大学的历史系荣誉教授。她的作品曾在一些著名的学术期刊和选集上发表。

Marcia Graham Synnott is professor emerita of history at the University of South Carolina. Her work has appeared in several journals and anthologies.

Format:HARDCOVER

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