UNC System to Review Guidelines for Admission

UNC-system officials say the study will evaluate current tests -- such as the SAT -- used to predict a student's academic abilities. The study also will examine how heavily these tests weigh on the admissions process.

Critics frequently claim that the SAT is racially biased and a faulty tool in evaluating applicants.

Gretchen Bataille, UNC-system vice president of academic affairs, said the bill calls for a more in-depth study of admissions decisions. "It is good to periodically examine what we're doing (in admissions)," she said.

Bataille said the first step in the study is to find how accurately N.C. end-of-year exams, which are administered by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, predict future success in college.

But she said it might be difficult to get the necessary information, including results from the end-of-year exams to compare with college performances.

Bataille said researchers might be forced to get the data from student volunteers. "We may have to pick a cohort of students who agree to share their end-of-year test results and compare the results to other statistics, such as GPA," she said.

Bataille said that in the future, system schools might rely more heavily on the end-of-year exams, depending on the results of the study.

But some UNC-system admissions officials say the SAT should continue to play a role in admissions decisions.

Stephen Farmer, UNC-Chapel Hill senior associate director of admissions, said the SAT is a fairly good indicator of a student's first year in college. "It needs to stay a tool in the admissions tool kit."

But critics point out several problems with the SAT, including a racial score gap.

Jeff Rubenstein, the Princeton Review's assistant vice president of program development, said gender and racial biases in the test must continue to maintain the validity of the exam.

The Princeton Review produces study guides for the SAT.

"There must be a chain of equality from year to year, so the test is normed, in a sense, all the way back to the 40s," Rubenstein said.

But officials from the College Board, which administers the SAT, contend the test is reliable.

"Scores are consistent with grades in college and the inequalities appear as early as fourth grade," said Jan Gams, College Board spokeswoman.

Gams said the Princeton Review issues statistics showing biases to promote sales of their study guides. "They're looking for a niche to denigrate the market."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.