Character Credit in Admission

As COVID-19 and other social changes push us out of our norms, we again should consider how nonacademic criteria can be used in admission decisions. This a distressing and challenging time in America. We are experiencing a deadly pandemic, reacting to police violence, confronting racism in its many forms, and enduring divisive national leadership. In education, COVID-19 has elicited changes that would have been beyond belief just a few months ago, including universal online teaching and students learning from their homes.

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How “Committed” Colleges and Universities Assess Character in Admission: A Study of Institutional Practices

Since Angela Duckworth’s widely-watched TED talk on grit in 2013, there has been growing attention to character education and, moreover, to the role of character in how colleges and universities decide who gets in. One result was the creation of the Character Collaborative in 2016 with the mission to elevate the role of character attributes in admission. Today, the Collaborative membership includes 75 colleges and secondary schools, research entities, educational reform organizations, and professional associations.

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