Forbes has an excellent article discussing predicted trends in the college admissions space in 2020. Here are a few highlights that stood out for me:
Beleaguered by lawsuits, the standardized testing industry is under fire for a number of issues, including allegedly selling students’ SAT data and allegedly leaking student disability information without consent (ACT has since eliminated the practice). But there’s one lawsuit that could revolutionize the way that students are evaluated and selected for admission across the entire United States.
That lawsuit, filed last month, claims that the SAT and ACT should be illegal to use in California, based on the grounds that the test is biased and cannot meaningfully measure the potential for student success. If judgment rules in favor of the plaintiff, the SAT and ACT may be considered unconstitutional in California, which means that the University of California system, which hosts over 200,000 students, would have to abandon using the SAT and ACT when evaluating who gets accepted and who gets rejected.
Then there is also the issue of actual admissions in the wake of the massive scandal last year:
The college admissions scandal was a grand scheme that involved a group of privileged parents working on their students’ behalf to cheat on standardized tests and bribe university-based athletic officials. Unrelated to the scandal, just months later, the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, under Justice Department pressure, changed its code of ethics, to avoid the potential for antitrust violations.
Both events brought college admissions under scrutiny, including the question how donations influence admissions decisions. Given the higher level of scrutiny, universities are likely to be even more vigilant about who’s giving donations and the intention behind the giving.
Based on these tidal shifts, I predict that colleges and universities will need to be more accountable to the public.
Be sure to read the entire article for yourself.