The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected race-conscious admissions in higher education, overturning over 40 years of legal precedence.

Details of the ruling: The Supreme Court decision, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, found that the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
* The majority opinion stated that while universities can still consider an applicant’s discussion of how race affected their life, this information cannot be obtained through specific application essays or other means.

Effects on colleges: The ruling primarily affects the over 200 colleges in the U.S. with highly selective admissions, less than 50% of applicants are accepted.
* The decision could potentially influence not only admissions, but also financial aid decisions, targeted scholarships and efforts to create diverse student communities.
* Researchers suggest that without considering race in the admissions process, achieving ethnically diverse classes may be challenging.

Alternatives and effectiveness: In the past, states and colleges have pursued other means to diversify their student bodies, including holistic approaches, admitting a percentage of the state’s top high school students, and randomly selecting high-qualified students.
* However, research suggests these methods are not as effective as considering race in the admissions process.

Affected cases: The two cases that led to this ruling are Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina. They represent both public and private universities with different admission environments.

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