The majority of Asian Americans approve of the use of standardized test scores in college admissions but oppose the consideration of applicants’ race, according to a new survey from Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Data and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The nationally representative poll, conducted in April, found that 53 percent of the 1,068 respondents believe it is “unfair” for colleges to consider race in college admissions, while only 18 percent believe it’s a fair consideration. However, 45 percent said it would be fair to consider an applicants’ personal experience with hardship or adversity.
Asian Americans have long harbored mixed feelings on affirmative action. A Pew Research poll conducted last year, just before the Supreme Court struck down the practice in June, found that 53 percent of Asian American respondents thought affirmative action was “a good thing,” but that 76 percent said race and ethnicity should not be considered in admissions.
The Supreme Court case that led to affirmative action’s demise, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, was brought by Asian American applicants who argued the practice had discriminated against them in favor of other applicants of color.
The AAPI/AP-NORC survey also found that 69 percent of Asian Americans think legacy preferences are unfair, and 71 percent support the teaching of slavery and the history of American racism—including against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—in the classroom. In addition, a majority of Asian Americans said they support the use of standardized test scores in admissions: 56 percent of American-born respondents, and 76 percent of immigrants.
