Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the importance of including noncognitive measures in admission practices at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The use of these measures potentially can be helpful in reducing the achievement gap that is: a) consistently documented in the literature and b) strongly associated with admissions of ethnic minorities in higher education. Reliance solely on cognitive measures has been shown to negatively impact the number of students from various ethnic groups who are admitted into colleges and universities. The inclusion of noncognitive measures may provide a more comprehensive story regarding an applicant and may be helpful in differentiating across international students who have diverse backgrounds and academic profiles. Despite these advantages, there are drawbacks such as rater bias and inflation of ratings confounding the use of noncognitive measures. In addition to discussing the benefits of using noncognitive measures in higher education admissions, we will also discuss the challenges while providing potential suggestions to address them.