U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today released "Achieving Diversity: Race-Neutral Alternatives in American Education," a report that outlines the various ways higher education institutions are using innovative, race-neutral approaches to achieve diversity on their campuses.

"Our goal is to highlight positive, constructive methods to help schools achieve and maintain diversity on their campuses," Secretary Paige said. "This report outlines several race-neutral approaches that appear promising and demonstrate the broad range of options available to schools looking for race-neutral ways to create a diverse student body.

"As these alternatives evolve, the department will continue to assist schools on how to effectively use race-neutral alternatives. The department will also continue with our mission to close the achievement gap to ensure that all students are prepared at the front end to meet the competition in higher education, without the need for special preference at the back end. That's the president's and my mission with the No Child Left Behind law: to fundamentally change the way we educate our children in America—to change our public schools system from one that does a good job educating some of the children, to a system that's held accountable for educating every child, from every walk of life."

The report builds upon the department's 2003 report and outlines such options as "developmental approaches," which are designed to diversify student enrollments by improving the qualifications of applicants, and "admissions approaches," which consider additional admissions criteria in an effort to achieve a more diverse student body. The report does not endorse any particular program but rather provides a catalog or description of what educational institutions are attempting.

The report also includes information on approaches used in K-12 schools, public and private colleges, and graduate and professional schools. For example, it includes information on:

• Improvements brought about by the No Child Left Behind Act;

• Partnerships between postsecondary institutions and nearby public schools that facilitate mentoring;

• Partnerships between the College Board and various school districts to prepare students to take the PSAT and SAT exams;

• Coordination between community colleges and traditional research institutions which encourage students to transfer into research institutions;

• Creation by graduate and professional schools of race-neutral programs to target promising undergraduate students;

• State partnerships with the College Board to improve educational achievement among students who attend traditionally low-performing schools;

• Use of socioeconomic criteria for student assignments and university admissions;

• Use of class-rank plans that guarantee university admission to high school seniors who graduate within a specified percentage of their school's senior class; and

• Race-neutral lotteries for student admissions.

The report is available at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-raceneutralreport2.html.

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