Inside Higher Ed, The Power of Race, by Scott Jaschik:

Is the glass half empty or half full?

Thomas J. Espendshade, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, used that question to answer a question about his new book, No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life (Princeton University Press), co-written with Alexandria Walton Radford, a research associate at MPR Associates. In fact, he could probably use the glass image to answer questions about numerous parts of the book.

While Espenshade and Radford — in the book and in interviews — avoid broad conclusions over whether affirmative action is working or should continue, their findings almost certainly will be used both by supporters and critics of affirmative action to advance their arguments. …

Unlike much writing about affirmative action, this book is based not on philosophy, but actual data — both on academic credentials and student experiences — from 9,000 students who attended one of 10 highly selective colleges and universities. (They are not named, but include public and private institutions, research universities and liberal arts colleges.)

Advantages by Race and Class on the SAT and ACT at Selective Colleges, Fall 1997

Group	Public (ACT 36 scale)	Private (SAT 1600 scale)
Race
–White	—	—
–Black	+3.8	+310
–Hispanic	+0.3	+130
–Asian	-3.4	-140
Class
–Lower	-0.1	+130
–Working	+0.0	+70
–Middle	—	—
–Upper-Middle	+0.3	+50
–Upper	+0.4	-30

Class Rank by Race and Economic Class

Group	Quintile 1	Quintile 2	Quintile 3	Quintile 4	Quintile 5
Race
–White	25.5%	20.8%	20.6%	17.3%	15.8%
–Black	4.8%	8.2%	13.6%	23.0%	50.5%
–Hispanic	9.3%	13.1%	17.1%	27.7%	32.8%
–Asian	20.2%	20.7%	21.9%	20.4%	16.9%
Economic class
–Lower & working	13.0%	10.9%	19.9%	20.1%	36.1%
–Middle	20.3%	18.6%	19.2%	20.7%	21.1%
–Upper & upper middle	25.7%	21.6%	20.8%	16.9%	15.0%