On June 29, the Supreme Court Ruled 6-3 that race-conscious admission policies of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, according to multiple news sources.
The decision means that universities can no longer consider race in addition to other factors when admitting students, ending 40-plus years of affirmative action policies to achieve greater racial diversity at top-tier colleges.
History of Affirmative Action
Originally introduced on a large scale in the 1960s to address racial discrimination, affirmative action policies typically appear in employment and education contexts.
On March 6, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which included a provision that government contractors "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin."
And today, we often see affirmative action discussed concerning college admissions decisions in the United States since numerous schools have established protocols that aim to increase the diversity of their student bodies by considering applicants' race.
Colleges and universities that consider race do so as part of a holistic approach that reviews every aspect of applications, including grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. Notably, more than 40% of American universities and 60% of selective schools consider race to some extent when making admissions decisions, according to Harvard's documents filed in court.
CNBC stated that nine states already ban race-based affirmative action policies for public colleges: Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington. Universities in other states may examine these examples to see how schools have changed admission practices without affirmative action policies.
What Does the Ruling Mean for Higher Education?
Proponents of affirmative action, including the justices who did not vote with the majority in the Harvard and University of North Carolina cases, have expressed fears that doing away with affirmative action policies will lead to a significant decrease in Black and Hispanic student representation at higher education institutions, especially elite schools.
Students, alumni, and educators have spoken up about the need to make universities more accessible to students who come from historically disadvantaged communities.
Kevin Guskiewicz, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, stated that the college will “carefully review the Supreme Court's decision and take any steps necessary to comply with the law.”
"Carolina remains firmly committed to bringing together talented students with different perspectives and life experiences and continues to make an affordable, high-quality education accessible to the people of North Carolina and beyond," Guskiewicz said.
Additionally, Harvard University officials reaffirmed that profound and transformative teaching, learning, and research depend upon a community of people of many backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences.
"For almost a decade, Harvard has vigorously defended an admissions system that, as two federal courts ruled, fully complied with longstanding precedent," school leaders wrote after the Supreme Court's decision. "In the weeks and months ahead, drawing on the talent and expertise of our Harvard community, we will determine how to preserve, consistent with the Court's new precedent, our essential values."
William Rose, CTO of Student Select AI, recently explained that in the post-affirmative action landscape, it will be important that colleges and universities identify new ways to incorporate unbiased factors into their admissions selection process.
“More specifically, this may include new types of applicant assessments or data points that predict successful students but do not show subgroup differences, as is seen in some standardized testing, like the SAT, which often reflects economic and racial differences,” Rose stated.
Opportunities for AI to Improve Diversity & Equity in University Admissions
Universities have historically been limited to specific, quantitative measures when evaluating prospective students’ potential to succeed in higher education. These have traditionally included GPA, standardized test scores like the SAT and GMAT.
Evaluating applicants on such limited measures — measures that can be directly impacted by external factors like socioeconomic status — has traditionally made it extremely difficult for university admissions teams to ensure fairness and equity across all applicants.
But emerging AI technology promises to change all that.
Student Select AI’s psychometric assessment platform makes it easy to gain a complete, objective personality, competency, and skill assessment of each applicant, right from the job interview. Evaluating applicants based on the unique skills and traits that are required for success in a particular program or cohort — not on test scores — inherently increases equity and diversity.
In fact, Student Select AI users reported an 80% increase in acceptance of candidates from underrepresented groups without accounting for race at all.
“AI-powered (and heavily validated) personality and skill assessments are inherently more fair than a human judgment – AI can be built free from bias, whereas human bias is inescapable,” according to Rose. “By ensuring each applicant receives the exact same consideration on the front end, universities can promote diversity, equity and inclusion organically.”
Student Select AI goes far beyond traditional psychometric testing, providing a holistic view of each candidates’ psychology, personality traits, and core skills — including the Great Eight, Big Five, and our own proprietary measures like grit, proactiveness and empathy.
Is your admissions program ready to move away from traditional metrics of success to measure what really matters?
Schedule a live demo today to see first-hand how Student Select AI reduces time-to-decision while providing a holistic, unbiased view of each candidate and ultimately driving better admissions decisions and diversity outcomes.
