No Longer Separate, Not yet Equal : Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life

by Espenshade, Thomas J.; Radford, Alexandria Walton

• ISBN13: 9781400831531
• ISBN10: 1400831539
• Copyright: 2009-11-05
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Against the backdrop of today's increasingly multicultural society, are America's elite colleges admitting and successfully educating a diverse student body?No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equalpulls back the curtain on the selective college experience and takes a rigorous and comprehensive look at how race and social class impact each stage--from application and admission, to enrollment and student life on campus. Arguing that elite higher education contributes to both social mobility and inequality, the authors investigate such areas as admission advantages for minorities, academic achievement gaps tied to race and class, unequal burdens in paying for tuition, and satisfaction with college experiences.The book's analysis is based on data provided by the National Survey of College Experience, collected from more than nine thousand students who applied to one of ten selective colleges between the early 1980s and late 1990s. The authors explore the composition of applicant pools, factoring in background and "selective admission enhancement strategies"--including AP classes, test-prep courses, and extracurriculars--to assess how these strengthen applications. On campus, the authors examine roommate choices, friendship circles, and degrees of social interaction, and discover that while students from different racial and class circumstances are not separate in college, they do not mix as much as one might expect. The book encourages greater interaction among student groups and calls on educational institutions to improve access for students of lower socioeconomic status.No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equaloffers valuable insights into the intricate workings of America's elite higher education system.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Overview	p. 1
Preparing for College	p. 14
What Counts in Being Admitted?	p. 62
The Entering Freshman Class	p. 130
Mixing and Mingling on Campus	p. 176
Academic Performance	p. 226
Shouldering the Financial Burden	p. 263
Broader Perspectives on the Selective College Experience	p. 298
Do We Still Need Affirmative Action?	p. 339
Where Do We Go from Here?	p. 378
The NSCE Database	p. 411
Notes on Methodology	p. 431
Additional Tables	p. 462
References	p. 483
Index	p. 523
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