Do the admission requirements of elite schools targeting Asian students hide racial discrimination?

A study once reviewed 160,000 student applications and uncovered the unfair treatment of Asian-American students in admissions at universities like Harvard. The report, titled "Discrimination against Asian-American Applicants in Harvard University's Admissions Process," was published in May 2018. It is not just Harvard; certain elite institutions often impose higher and more stringent standards on Asian-American students, thereby limiting their chances of admission. The study demonstrated that Asian-American students face higher admission requirements based on their ethnicity, despite having high test scores and favorable academic backgrounds.

In addition, research has found that another factor contributing to the restrictions on Asian Americans is "insufficient donations and lack of reputation." Indeed, when looking at the records of prestigious American universities, according to data published on www.chronicle.com, between 1967 and 2015, Ivy League universities, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University, received over $50 million in donations, totaling over $10 billion. Among these donations, 63% came from white individuals, 29% from Jewish individuals, and only 6.8% from Asian individuals.

According to data from the National Academy of Sciences website, as of April 2021, the proportion of Asian American members of the academy is approximately 6.4%, which is significantly lower compared to other ethnic groups. According to data provided by the official Nobel Prize website, as of 2021, only 13 Asian Americans (not limited to Chinese Americans) have received Nobel Prizes. This indicates that Asian Americans are not dominant in this aspect.

Based on this, many prestigious universities emphasize that their admissions process takes into account various factors. However, based on the factors mentioned above, the admission criteria for Asian American students may be restricted, which confirms that Asian Americans are in a disadvantaged position among the numerous ethnic groups in the United States.