Student leaders are beginning to take on the question of Ban-the-Box for College and University applications. Banning the box essentially eliminates the question of criminal history and potentially levels the playing field for those with a criminal background record when it comes to being accepted into an institution of higher learning.

From UPressOnline.com on April 7, 2021:

Anyone who has filled out a university application may recall having to answer a question about their criminal history. Failure to answer these types of questions can delay application processing and a prospective student’s answer can result in a disciplinary hold or rejection.

Ban the Box at FAU is an organization working to remove questions regarding criminal history from FAU’s and other university and college admission applications. ^{upressonline.com/2021/04/ban-the-box-town-hall-discusses-removing-criminal-history-application-questions/}

At Yale University in Connecticut, efforts are underway to ban-the-box on Yale’s admission applications but no longer on the Common Application widely used in higher education.

From Yale Daily News on April 1, 2021:

During the 2019-2020 admissions cycle, the Common Application permanently removed its criminal history question. However, Yale still includes a criminal history question in the Yale-specific section of the Common Application. The question asks applicants, “Have you ever been convicted of, or pled guilty or no contest to, a misdemeanor or felony, or are there any criminal charges pending against you?” ^{yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/04/01/justice-impact-movement-ycc-call-on-yale-to-ban-the-box-in-admissions/}

Ban-the-Box laws across the country affecting employment applications have been occurring for many years now but removing the box on higher education institutes like Colleges and Universities is a much newer phenomenon. The mentality that criminal background records can become a huge obstacle for people to get jobs also exists for the same kind of people to get accepted to a College or University. As public perception in the USA has been changing more and more people understand that getting these kind of people employed or enrolled at a place of higher learning is better for the community at large and also helps with avoiding recidivism.

To read more about this subject read recent press release: Ban the Box Goes to College: The Next Evolution in Eliminating the Question of Criminal History