Admissions Bias In Midwest

Ohio State and Miami University might be practicing discrimination in their admissions policies, the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) found.

“Miami University (MU) awarded a large degree of preference in undergraduate admissions to blacks over whites and Asians, and, to a lesser extent, to Hispanics and Asians over whites,” the CEO found. “Ohio State University (OSU) awarded a large degree of preference to Hispanics and blacks over whites, and, to a lesser extent, to Asians over whites.  The evidence of these preferences is manifested in a number of ways.”

“Odds Ratios. The relative odds of admission of a black over a white applicant at MU and OSU were large, controlling for test scores (either the SAT or ACT), grades, gender, residency, and year of admission.”

• “At MU, black-to-white odds ratios favoring blacks were 8.0 to 1 using these factors and the SATs and 10.2 to 1 using these factors and the ACTs.”
• “At OSU, the black-to-white odds ratios favored blacks by 3.3 to 1 using the SAT and 7.9 to 1 using the ACT.”

“Preference was also awarded Hispanics at both schools, controlling for other factors.”

• “At MU, the odds ratios for Hispanics over whites (2.2 to 1 using either SATs or ACTs) showed a moderate preference given Hispanics over whites.”
• “OSU exhibited a strong admission preference of Hispanic over white applicants, of roughly 4.3 to 1 when using the SAT and 6.5 to 1 using the ACT.”

“Both schools granted a modest degree of preference to Asians.”

• “MU awarded preference to Asians over whites, by 2.1 to 1 with the SATs and 1.6 to 1 with the ACTs.”
• “OSU awarded slight preference to Asians over whites, by 1.5 to 1 when using the SAT and 2.1 to 1 with the ACTs.”

The CEO is a private think tank headed by Linda Chavez.

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail contact@academia.org