The Supreme Court’s recent ruling against race-based admissions in public and private colleges mirrors California’s earlier ban on affirmative action, resulting in institutions struggling to meet diversity and equity goals, despite significant outreach investment and modifications in admission procedures.
The landmark decision: The Supreme Court ruled that admission policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
* This ruling halted race-based admissions practices at public and private universities and colleges.
Impact on California’s higher education: California public universities have struggled to meet diversity and equity goals since banning race-based admissions more than 25 years ago.
* After the ban, Black and Latino student enrollment at UCLA and UC Berkeley fell by 40%.
* The ban led Black and Latino students who might have attended these top schools, to enroll in less competitive campuses, impacting their future earning potential.
* The universities responded by implementing initiatives to increase diversity, including a comprehensive review process of applicants and eliminating standardized test scores as admission requirements.
* Despite a half-billion dollars spent on these efforts, these universities still struggle to match the racial diversity prior to the affirmative action ban.
Future implications: The Supreme Court’s recent ruling could lead to similar struggles for other universities nationwide.
* Highly competitive universities, in particular, are expected to be most affected by this ruling.
* Gabrielle Starr, president of Pomona College, expressed concerns over maintaining racial diversity under the nationwide affirmative action ban.
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