Affirmative Action Challenge and Supreme Court Guidance

Supreme Court Cases: Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and UNC

America’s higher education institutions have long recognized and cultivated the educational benefits of diversity. Current holistic admissions practices adhere to a legal framework that has grounded diversity efforts for decades. AACRAO believes these practices are instrumental in helping institutions to identify students who are likely to thrive in their educational programs.

There is a long history of case law that supports the use of holistic assessment’s focus on diversity and confirms that colleges and universities have a compelling interest in ensuring student body diversity. As student demographics undergo rapid change, more colleges and universities are looking beyond traditional measures to admit future students. To remove the consideration of non-academic factors is unfair to applicants for whom this is a critical part of their life and would deprive applicants of full and due consideration of their lived experiences.

AACRAO Guidelines in Preparation for Supreme Court Decision

AACRAO encourages members to begin to examine any admissions or recruitment practices that target populations of a specific race as well as their overall holistic/equity admissions practices.

To assist in this process, AACRAO is providing this guidance document to prepare our members for a possible major change in their ability to consider an applicant’s race and ethnicity as part of a holistic/equity review in admissions.

REVIEW GUIDANCE

Webinar: Looking Back, Planning Ahead

On February 2, 2023, AACRAO hosted a webinar that examines the pending U.S. Supreme cases where the central question is whether colleges and universities can continue to consider an applicant’s race and ethnicity as part of the holistic review process in admissions.

View Recording

Updates

Texas Passes Bill to Preserve UT Austin Admissions Policies

May 25, 2023, 13:38 PM

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Summary : The legislation aims to ensure that UT Austin would not have to completely change how it selects freshman classes in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision on race-conscious admissions practices.

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The Texas legislature recently passed a bill that preserves current admissions procedures at the University of Texas at Austin, reported The Texas Tribune and Inside Higher Ed.

The legislation aims to ensure that UT Austin would not have to completely change how it selects freshman classes in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision on race-conscious admissions practices. Currently, state law requires the university to admit 75 percent of its students from those in the top 6 percent of their classes in Texas high schools. The admissions process at UT Austin would be void if the university no longer considers race in admissions, as it does for the remaining 25 percent of slots, according to Inside Higher Ed. Senate Bill 2538 would remove that requirement, meaning that UT Austin would not have to come up with a new admissions system if the Supreme Court invalidates affirmative action.

The court is expected to issue a ruling in two cases challenging the use of race in college admissions decision next month.