Racial Preferences in Higher Education
Overview of Supreme Court Case Law
In the more than three decades since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) affirmed the constitutionality of affirmative action in public colleges and universities, many institutions of higher education have implemented race-conscious admissions programs in order to achieve a racially and ethnically diverse student body or faculty. Nevertheless, the pursuit of diversity in higher education remains controversial, and legal challenges to such admissions programs routinely continue to occur. Currently, the Court is poised to consider a novel question involving affirmative action in higher education during its upcoming 2013−2014 term. Unlike earlier rulings,…
