Religious affiliation linked to SAT scores

Christian Century, May 8, 2002

Some colleges are specifically wooing Jewish students, prompted in part by their high average ranking on SAT scores, the Wall Street Journal reports. The paper cited Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, as among those working to increase its Jewish enrollment.

"Yes, we're targeting Jewish students," Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee told a board meeting of the Vanderbilt affiliate of Hillel, a Jewish campus organization. Gee told the Journal that pursuit of Jewish students reflects an "elite strategy" to raise Vanderbilt's academic status. "Jewish students, by culture and by ability and by the very nature of their liveliness, make a university a much more habitable place in terms of intellectual life," Gee said.

The College Board, which asks takers of the college-entrance exam about their religious affiliation, has scores showing that college-bound Jewish seniors averaged 1,161 out of a possible 1,600, second only to Unitarians, who averaged 1,209. Others in the top rankings were Quakers at 1,153, Hindus at 1,110, and Mennonites and members of the Reformed Church in America, who tied with an average score of 1,097.

Some school officials interviewed by the Journal questioned whether the recruiting tactic was appropriate. However, Chris Markle, admissions director at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, has seen the College Board's research and considers Jewish outreach to be an aspect of "increasing the quality of our applicant pool."--RNS