In the ongoing debate between those who support a blanket meritocracy in school admissions versus a weighted approach that considers race, class and gender, the Faculty Board of Admissions and Relations With Schools committee at Cal has suggested that the National Merit Scholarship Program's policies are not in line with the admissions priorities at Cal, and that they should consider pulling out of the program.

At the heart of the matter is a sponsorship program whereby universities offer National Merit Finalists scholarships ranging from $500 to $10,000 in order to attract top students to their programs. From the New York Times [via CalPatriot]:

Dr. [Patrick] Hayashi said he became familiar with the program when he was associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment at the University of California, Berkeley. When Chang-Lin Tien became Berkeley's chancellor in 1990, he wanted to increase the number of merit scholars there and directed that the campus become a sponsor, Dr. Hayashi said.

"We shot up to second or third in the nation," he said. "But we found that if you sponsor students, you have to give them aid even if they don't need it."

Berkeley withdrew from the program in 2002. But six other University of California campuses paid for $1.4 million in National Merit Scholarships last year.

Of course, standardized testing and weighted admissions have been under fire from either side of the debate, with some arguing that standardized tests are inherently biased against women and minorities, and others arguing that weighted admissions mean less-than-qualified students are being chosen over those more prepared. The College Board argues that the test is fair, in that it reflects the educational conditions across America, and that the results are symptomatic of broader social disparities.