The Common App, a widely used undergraduate college admission application system, announced Tuesday its decision to cease asking all applicants about their criminal history.
The question about criminal histories has been asked of all Common App users since 2006. Just last year, the organization reviewed the issue and announced that it was keeping the question.
Some are praising the new change while others find it to be a mistake.
“Member feedback shows there are strong and differing opinions regarding both keeping the question ‘common,’ and for leaving the decision on whether and how to ask the question up to individual members,” the Common App’s statement said. “While a majority of survey respondents would prefer to keep the question on the ‘common’ portion of the application, we found variation in member preferences based on institution type and other factors. For example, the majority of public institution survey respondents preferred that the question be asked at the discretion of the member.”
There are pros and cons to the decision.
Minority students enter the criminal justice system disproportionately more often than white students. Asking about criminal history could be considered a bias against black and Latino youth. Anyone who believes in the need for criminal justice reform can see how involving criminal backgrounds in college applications could bring bias from the criminal justice system into higher education.
Next, students grow up a lot between 9th grade and their freshman year of college. Should a foolish decision made at 14 years of age really impact someone’s college education and their future?
That depends on the gravity of the offense, and college admissions officers are often not trained to differentiate between a minor infraction and a serious crime. Lacking the expertise to evaluate if a criminal record reflects a genuine issue only puts the applicant at a disadvantage.
Detractors of this change highlight a security concern. Parents want to know their student is living and learning in a safe environment. In some cases, colleges that did not ask such questions only discovered they had admitted students with a violent criminal history after a case of sexual assault took place on their own campus.
Furthermore, certain careers in healthcare and education require a clean background. Although this doesn’t stop a student with a criminal background from obtaining a degree, certain criminal convictions can bar students from taking state licensure exams. Why allow students to spend thousands of dollars on a degree when their criminal background keeps them from getting licensed anyway?
By dropping the question of criminal background, the Common App is following the requests of the Obama-era Department of Education which released a campaign called “Beyond the Box.”
The Common App is accepted by more than 750 schools and helps streamline the college admissions process for high school students by allowing applicants to apply to multiple schools at one time, through one application.
The question of criminal history will be left off the application for the 2019-20 school year.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
