Michael Bastedo quoted in multiple sources on disputed topics in college admissions

In the Chronicle, Bastedo responded to the news that the federal judge who upheld affirmative action in Harvard University admissions also recommended bias training for the university’s admissions office. Bias training has often been used at companies and colleges, but its reach into admissions has been limited, until recently, and questions remain about how it would be carried out in this arena.

Bastedo performs anti-bias training in his consulting work with admissions offices, focusing on recognizing cognitive bias. He teaches officers about common biases studied in social psychology and gives them examples from his own admissions research. In separate meetings with admissions leaders, Bastedo investigates how their officers gain information on applicants and how their scoring and admissions decisions are made.

“Admissions work is all full of ambiguities,” Bastedo said. “All the cases are lots and lots of different pieces of data that you’re trying to pull together to ultimately make a decision. If you have a read sheet that’s full of test scores and GPAs and things, it can be difficult to do a complete, holistic review if you’re overly influenced by the numbers on the front."

PBS quoted Bastedo in a piece produced by The Hechinger Report about colleges dropping the SAT and ACT requirement in their application processes. One in four institutions no longer requires these tests for admission.

Critics of the tests have argued that they reflect income more than ability. They believe that making these tests optional will increase campus diversity and enable more low-income students to enroll in colleges. This is based on the idea that well-resourced students from wealthier school districts can benefit from additional assistance, like test preparation courses and tutors. 

Researchers remain divided about whether removing test requirements would help level the playing field. Weighing in on this topic, Bastedo said that initial experiments showed that admissions officers were 25 percent more likely to enroll lower-income students if they had better data about the high school instead. He has researched admissions policies for years and also worked as a consultant to the College Board on a dashboard that allows admissions officers to understand a student’s background before making an admissions decision. 

He noted that institutions that went “test-optional” did not see an increase in the proportions of low-income or typically underrepresented students on their campuses.

“You can be against standardized tests and in favor the dashboard,” he said. The key point is to “put every applicant in the context of the opportunities they have.” Besides, he said, simply going test-optional, without increasing financial aid to poorer students and supplying other support, may not make much difference.