Regions of discrimination: felony records, race, and expressed college admissions policies

ABSTRACT

Criminal records can have consequences for higher education attainment despite the benefits of college degrees for formerly incarcerated people. Using stratified random sampling of colleges and universities across the 50 states, this study examines how higher education institutions claim to use felony history in admission decisions, and the impact of race, geography, and institutional factors associated with these decisions. Findings indicate that admissions departments are more likely to tell an interested applicant with a stereotypical Black name and a non-violent felony record that their criminal histories will be considered in the application process compared to another prospective applicant with a stereotypical White name and non-violent felony record. Admissions departments in public institutions and institutions with higher racial diversity are less likely to consider felony history. Lastly, institutions in the former Confederate states are more likely to indicate using stringent reviews of applicants who disclose a felony compared to institutions in the former Union states. Institutions in the former border states and unincorporated states claim to be less likely to consider criminal history in the applicant review process compared to Union states. Recommendations for addressing these barriers to higher education are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• College admission
• felony record
• race; correspondence
• criminal stigma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. IHEs were removed for the following reasons: IHE did not respond to any of three emails (n = 37), IHE had closed (n = 4), admissions requested a phone conversation (n = 9), admissions asked for personal information from Tyrone of Christopher (n = 5), and the emailed response could not be coded (n = 14).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Douglas N. Evans

Douglas N. Evans is an Associate Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. His research explores how criminal legal system involvement impacts access to housing, post-secondary education, and relationship initiation as well as the benefits of higher education programs in prisons and how incarceration affects public health and family stability. He teaches college courses in correctional facilities in New York and New Jersey.

Victor St. John

Victor St. John is an Assistant Professor at Saint Louis University in Missouri within the College of Public Health and Social Justice. His research primarily focuses on the reduction of mass criminalization and the associated racial harms.

Jason Szkola

Jason Szkola is a doctoral candidate at John Jay College of Criminal Justice/the Graduate Center, City University of New York in Criminal Justice and Criminology. He has held positions within multiple CUNY research centers. His research interests involve spatial-temporal patterns of crime, gun violence interventions, credible messengers, and youth justice.

Shaylyn Lyons

Shaylyn Lyons is currently pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology, on the path to becoming a forensic psychologist. Her interest in working with the forensic population began at a young age and has since been strengthened by her work experience with mental health courts, Hudson Link for Higher Education in correctional facilities, and Fifth Avenue Forensics. Shaylyn’s research interests support her desire to reduce recidivism, with a focus on mental health and psychopathy.