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Foreign Students Unlikely to Be Affected by Loss of Diversity Policy

by Donald Winzer

   A [1]Trump administration recommendation that colleges and universities
   ignore race in the admissions process is unlikely to impact
   international students, educators say.

   "I don't think that it's going to have much, if any, impact on
   international students," said Scott Schneider, a New Orleans-based
   higher education lawyer.

   "We don't see the forthcoming guidance as having any impact on our
   policies or as causing us to change our practices," New York University
   spokesman John Beckman said.

   Most schools do not include international students in their diversity
   statistics. Ethnicity is typically listed as African-American or
   Hispanic-American, for example, not Nigerian or Pakistani.

   "College administrators frequently code the race/ethnicity of foreign
   nationals simply as 'foreign' without specifying a race group," a
   [2]2004 study from Princeton University found.

   Kennedy program

   Affirmative action started in the 1960s when President John F. Kennedy
   directed government programs to ensure that people of all races were
   treated equally. Colleges and universities began recruiting racial
   minority students to ensure campus diversity. But educators and others
   argued that economic background, race and gender affected how students
   performed in school, especially on standardized tests.

   Studies show that students from mainly white and prosperous communities
   test and perform better than students in poorer, racially diverse
   neighborhoods. White males in wealthier school districts perform better
   in math than other students, such as females and minorities, according
   to a recent [3]study by Stanford University.

   Former President Barack Obama reaffirmed affirmative action when he
   issued policy that guided schools to use race in deciding college and
   university admissions between 2011 and 2016. President Donald Trump's
   new guidelines reverse those policies.

   Since affirmative action was established, nonminority students have
   questioned whether the policies equaled reverse discrimination. A
   student's chances should be based on merit, they argue. Others argue
   that economic background should be considered to enhance diversity
   outside race.

   "Higher education should promote diversity and inclusion, which
   includes racial diversity," said Esther Brimmer, executive director of
   NAFSA: Association of International Educators. "Colleges and
   universities have found many different ways to do so."

   The specific guidelines and enforcement of the new Trump policies
   remain murky, lawyer Schneider said.

   "Let's wait and see what the guidance is going to say, No. 1, and No.
   2, will the change in policy also be coupled with a change in
   enforcement priorities?" Schneider asked.

   Federal aid

   Under the new guidelines, if schools continue to consider race in their
   admissions process, their federal funding could be pulled -- including
   money for financial aid, which would increase the financial burden
   students bear, Schneider said.

   He explained that, if schools disagree with the guidelines, they could
   sue. But that is unlikely, he said, because federal funding is
   threatened. "Most schools just go, 'We'll sign the consent decree.'"

   The removal of guidelines on the use of race in admissions affects all
   levels of education, not just college.

   A news release from the departments of Education and Justice calls for
   removing guidance formerly used to explain the legal framework that
   governs the use of race in elementary, secondary and postsecondary
   schools.

   The documents were removed because they are "inconsistent with
   governing principles for agency guidance documents," according to the
   news release.

   "This is an extraordinarily cynical move by Secretary [of Education
   Betsy] DeVos," said Gina Chirichigno, director of the National
   Coalition on School Diversity. DeVos "knows that taking down the
   guidance doesn't change the law in any way, but it is likely to confuse
   school districts that are trying to comply with the law."

References

   1. https://www.voanews.com/a/reports-trump-administration-to-revoke-obama-guidelines-on-race-in-college-admissions/4465140.html
   2. https://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/files/webAdmission%20Preferences%20Espenshade%20Chung%20Walling%20Dec%202004.pdf
   3. https://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/wp18-13-v201806_0.pdf