LAUSR

Abstract Access to higher education is essential to the achievement of social justice and economic development of a society. This study examines differences in the status quo of the equity of college admission examinations between China and the US by comparing news reports in the two countries. Interesting differences were revealed between the two media. China Daily centered more densely on equality in opportunities of exam taking and was inclined to inquire into how its college entrance exam is connected with dominant and pro forma inequality and the restraining force of policy associated with starting point equity, while the New York Times was concerned more on process equity and outcome equity, aiming to level off existing and potential disparities by detecting mechanisms of discrimination more deeply rooted and implicit in the implementation of the system. It is believed that the findings can lend a more in-depth understanding of the approach to social realities of educational equity in the two countries and hopefully provide useful implications for policy formulation.