There’s been a nationwide effort to get colleges and universities to stop asking about criminal records on applications. But many Illinois schools also ask if students have been found responsible for a school discipline violation like a suspension.
A new report from the University of Illinois System's Institute of Government and Public Affairs shows how that can have a chilling effect on some students.
“You can certainly see how having to take those additional steps would deter some students from applying," said Eve Rips, author of the report and professor at the University of Illinois Chicago's law school. "Also just having to fill out a lot of additional information may really send a message to students, this type of space is not for you.”
The report highlights that students with a school discipline record are twice as likely to start a college application but not submit it.
“If extremely important decisions about higher education, about professional licensure opportunities that can really help young people move forward in life are tied to mistakes from early on, that can cause tremendous lifelong ripple effects," she said.
In 2021, Common App, where students can apply to hundreds of schools at once, stopped requiring school discipline questions. It was a few years after they stopped requiring questions about criminal records.
In Illinois, 19 Illinois colleges and universities still ask about past school discipline.
Some universities only ask about high school discipline, some just serious offenses, others are vague enough where it’s unclear if students should check the box for a middle school incident.
Schools often say it’s because of campus safety and legal liability concerns. But Rips says research doesn't back up the idea that asking about school discipline keeps campuses safer or less likely to be sued.
Rips recommends universities should either stop asking, with exceptions for serious offenses like sexual assault, or make it easier to expunge school discipline records — much like how juvenile justice records can be expunged in Illinois.
