The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) and the Education from the Inside Out Coalition are pleased to announce the release of "Boxed Out: Criminal History Screening and College Application Attrition" written by Alan Rosenthal, Esq., Advisor on Special Projects and Counsel; Emily NaPier, M.A., Senior Research Associate; Patricia Warth, Esq. Director of Justice Strategies; and Marsha Weissman, Ph.D., Executive Director.
This report builds upon CCA's 2010 study, "The Use of Criminal History Records in College Admissions Reconsidered." It makes clear how the criminal history box on college applications and the supplemental requirements and procedures that follow create barriers to higher education for otherwise qualified applicants. We focused on the State University of New York (SUNY), and found that almost two out of every three applicants who disclosed a felony conviction were denied access to higher education, not because of purposeful denial of their application but because they were driven out of the application process by the stigmatizing questions and the "gauntlet" of additional requirements. We call this phenomenon "felony application attrition."
This case study of SUNY has national implications. The supplemental procedures and requirements imposed by SUNY campuses are not unique, and reflect procedures followed by many colleges and universities across the county.