A study performed by Boston College's Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment showed that female students studying at Boston College lost self-confidence between their freshman and senior years, USA Today reported on Thursday. The study was based on student surveys, in which most female students gave themselves weaker self-evaluations while taking the survey in their final year. Abbey Clark, founder of the Boston College's female empowerment community I AM THAT GIRL, said the results startled her and hopes to change the trend by creating a strong community to increase women's empowerment.
Justice Department officials said colleges may legally continue to consider race as one of several factors in the admissions process, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The comments were delivered by Jocelyn Samuels, acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and adhered closely to written statements outlined in a document released by the Justice Department and the Education Department titled "Questions and Answers about Fisher v. University of Texas." Both the statement and the document reaffirmed the Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, a landmark case which upheld affirmative action. Following the Court's ruling on Fisher v. University of Texas in June, experts had thought that the court would begin to hold colleges to a stricter standard when determining whether race-conscious policies are necessary to achieve diversity.
This year's applicants to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. will be permitted to submit four 2,500-word research papers in lieu of a typical application and standardized test scores, The New York Times reports. The papers, which must address topics selected by the College, will be reviewed by professors and will win a student admission if they receive grades above a B+. Leon Botstein, Bard's President, said the new approach would "declare war" on the typical college admissions process and praised the new approach as a "return to basics." Standardized tests including the SAT and ACT have been under attack in recent years for underrepresenting the abilities of some students.
