Maryland's public college and university system has come under fire for the use of race as a factor in its admissions policies.
The Center for Equal Opportunity, the same conservative think tank that attacked the University for its admissions practices over the last two years, recently released another study focusing on Maryland, "Racial Preferences in Maryland Higher Education."
The Center, which criticizes schools whose policies include what it calls "racial preferences," also has scrutinized the admissions policies of public schools in California and Colorado.
The study shows a disparity between the average SAT scores of black and white students admitted to state schools such as the University of Maryland-College Park, St. Mary's College, Frostburg State University and Bowie State University.
The median SAT scores for white freshmen enrolled at the University of Maryland in 1997 were 620 for math and 600 for verbal, while the median math and verbal scores for black freshmen enrolled the same year were 510 and 540 respectively, the Center report states.
Linda Clement, director of admissions at the University of Maryland, responded to the findings of the CEO study by explaining that the University of Maryland does not group SAT scores into racial groups as was done in the CEO study.
Test scores are one of 25 factors considered in the admissions process, Clement said.
"Test scores alone don't tell the whole story," she said.
University Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn agreed that admissions selection is a "holistic" process that takes into consideration many different factors beyond test scores.
The Maryland study only contains data for in-state students enrolled at public colleges and universities in the state. Statistics for out-of-state students enrolled in Maryland schools and for students who were accepted but declined to attend Maryland schools were not included in the study.
CEO senior fellow Joe Beard conceded to the narrow scope of data included in the organization's latest study.
"The University of Maryland was far less forthcoming with information than the University of Virginia," Beard said, adding that the Center included all available information on admitted students in the Maryland study.
All the data for the study was obtained from the Maryland Commission on Higher Education.
Beard explained the CEO's goal in publishing the study was not to interpret the data, but rather to demonstrate the different data available.
The CEO plans to conduct a similar study on the University of Maryland Medical School in the near future.
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