The rules determine who gets seats at selective colleges, affecting which students gain access to influential alumni networks, scholarships and career pipelines.
It's when schools factor in an applicant's race, alongside grades, test scores and other criteria, when deciding admissions. The Supreme Court has now largely barred this practice.
The debate centers on how the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection applies to government-linked institutions weighing race, a question with implications beyond higher education.
Before 2023, schools like Harvard used race as one factor among many — including grades, essays and extracurriculars — rather than as a quota or fixed point boost.
Colleges may no longer treat race as a categorical factor but can consider how an applicant describes race shaping their own life experiences in essays.
Even before the 2023 ruling, nine states — including California and Michigan — had banned race-conscious admissions at public universities through ballot measures or laws.
A 2023 Supreme Court ruling reshaped how universities can weigh race, ending a practice the Court had permitted for decades.
Read the guide →A June 2023 Supreme Court ruling reshaped a decades-long debate over whether race can factor into who gets into college.
Read the brief →