The Supreme Court ruling that selective colleges and universities can’t use race as a factor in admissions comes as the nation’s students have become increasingly more diverse.
Over half are Latino, Black, Asian American or Native American, said Michele Siqueiros, the president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, a nonprofit group helping Californians go to college.
“We have more eligible students ready for college than we’ve ever had,” Siqueiros said.
At the same time, Black and Latino students are still underrepresented across selective and highly selective colleges and universities — institutions where fewer than half of applicants or fewer than 20% are accepted, respectively. They’re also underrepresented in many states’ flagship universities.
We asked experts to assess what the Supreme Court ruling means for students and families.
Does the ruling get rid of diversity in selective colleges’ admissions?
No.
While the ruling focuses specifically on barring race as a factor in admissions, it doesn’t limit institutions’ outreach, engagement, retention or completion strategies aimed at enrolling diverse student bodies, said Deborah Santiago, the CEO and a co-founder of Excelencia in Education, an organization that promotes Latino college completion. “You can do all of those things in these communities,” she said.
Higher education scholars and counselors say the onus is on colleges and universities to ensure that their applicant pools include students of color — many of whom come from segregated school districts with fewer resources.
“One of the things that could shift is really how admission officers recruit around the country, because if you can’t take race into account, the only thing you really can control is how diverse your applicant pool is,” said Angel B. Perez, the CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
Zamir Ben-Dan, an assistant law professor at Temple University, said higher education institutions will be…
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