The new award may appear helpful, but in reality is harming minorities by lowering standards. Photo Courtesy of CSUF Photos (Flickr)

In 2019, the College Board created a program called the “National Recognition Program” to promote diversity in the college admissions process. Within this program, the College Board created an award known as the “National Recognition Award” which was awarded to a select group of students across the country this August.

In an email to the awardees, the students were told they were given the award due to “their GPA of 3.5 or higher and outstanding performance on the PSAT/NMSQT®, PSAT™ 10, and/or AP® Exams.” 

As stated on the Big Future College Board website, the requirements include: 

For sophomores and juniors:  

• • Must have a 3.5 GPA or higher at the time they are applying. Weighted and unweighted GPAs are considered. 
  • Must have a permanent address in the United States, a U.S. territory or U.S. military base, or attend a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school. U.S. citizenship is not required. 
• Must identify as Black, African American, Latino, Hispanic, Indigenous, Native, or attend high school in a rural area or small town. 

For sophomores: 

• Must have taken the PSAT/NMSQT in fall 2022 OR at least two distinct AP Exams in 8th or 9th grade. 

For juniors:  

• Must have taken the PSAT 10 in spring 2022 OR the PSAT/NMSQT in fall 2022 OR at least two distinct AP Exams in 8th, 9th, or 10th grade.

However, there’s a difference between what was said to the awardees in the email and what is listed on the College Board website. In the email, it’s stated that awardees had an outstanding performance on the PSAT or AP Exams, whereas, in the requirements listed on the website, awardees just had to take the PSAT or two AP Exams. 

Six students from LFHS received a National Recognition Award. Each of these awards was distinguished by a minority demographic status. Students received an award for one out of four categories: The National African American Recognition Award, the National Hispanic Recognition Award, the National Rural and Small Town Award, and the National Indigenous Award.

Many would assume I would be happy to receive this award. With that being said, I have my reservations about the award and its requirements. First of all, the requirements to receive this award are not necessarily “outstanding”. For example, the GPA requirement is essentially the same as the GPA students need to qualify for the National Honors Society.

In fact, over half of the LFHS class of 2024 qualified for the National Honors Society, and according to the U.S. News, 67% of students at LFHS participate in AP classes/exams. On that same note, every junior at the school is required to take the PSAT. Clearly, hundreds of students at LFHS alone meet the requirements for this award. 

The one thing missing for these students? The requirement of being in a minority/underrepresented group. 

In this way, the College Board is lowering the standings for minority groups.

As someone who received the National Hispanic Recognition Award, I was at first happy because it was another award I could put on my college application. This happiness lasted until I saw what the details of the award were, specifically the minority status requirement. Again, a large number of my peers meet these standards, but not many are part of a minority group. 

All over the world the standards and expectations for minorities are lower. Now, even the College Board has lowered the standards by attempting to recognize minority students through an award that hundreds of high schoolers could potentially qualify for if it weren’t for the minority requirement.