S…A…T. Three little letters that send chills through the student body. Three little numbers shadow us long past graduation day. What are you? A 720 verbal, a 450 in math? Are these codes as indelible as your Social Security number, your I.Q….your name?
In the horserace of Higher Education, the hurdle of the Scholastic Aptitude Test must be cleared… and the hurdles are higher for blacks and Hispanics. This ragged racecourse seems as inevitable as death and taxes. But is it right? One of the S A T ‘s biggest customers doesn’t think so.
The President of the University of California, the largest state university system in the country, wants to scrap submission of S A T aptitude scores as a requirement for admission. On the east coast, officials at Harvard say the emphasis on S A T scores is just one part of an admissions process gone haywire.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Linda Kramer, Associate Dean of Admissions at Bowdoin College
Rick Shaw Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University
Charles Ducey, Director of the Bureau of Study Council, from Harvard University.