Help ban the box in college admissions
Around 70 percent of four-year colleges in the United States require that applicants disclose prior experience with the criminal legal system. This practice doesn’t make campuses safer, but it does discourage potential students from applying.
Asking about conviction histories on college applications is one of many ways—including barriers to housing, employment opportunities, and so much more—that people with conviction histories continue to be punished even long after their involvement with the criminal legal system.
Change can come from individual school, state, or federal policy that prevents applications from asking about criminal legal system involvement.
Take action and add your name to call for an end to asking about conviction histories on college applications.
Take Action: Ban the Box in College Admissions
Everyone deserves a fair chance to access education. Asking prospective students to disclose prior experience with the criminal legal system in their college applications undermines this.
Yet most four-year colleges in the United States require this information, even though it deters potential applicants and doesn’t improve campus safety. Policies like this are unnecessary and make it difficult for people to move forward with their lives.
Schools across the country should ban the box in admissions and help ensure that people with conviction histories can pursue transformative education.
Add your name and help spread the word.