As part of a wide scale recruiting tactic, colleges and universities purchase student list products that contain the contact information of prospective students meeting their ‘search filter’ criteria. Unfortunately, the contemporary student list business is characterized by the systematic exclusion of underrepresented students, the certain death of the college entrance exam, and the looming takeover by corporate and private equity interests, suggests this report from the Institute for College Access & Success.
The report, the third in a series of reports from the Institute for College Access & Success on the student list industry, contends that regulation alone cannot solve these problems. Instead, the report recommends the creation of a “public option” student list product that is oriented to equity of opportunity for students. The proposed model, the report states, is inspired by the example of national voter databases.