The US Supreme Court is set to hear two cases that could dramatically alter the extent to which universities can consider an applicant’s race during the admissions process. The eventual ruling could end decades-old affirmative action policies and significantly affect how universities manage admissions. Arguments in both cases will begin at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Affirmative action is among the most contentious issues in US education. The cases concern admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The court is hearing challenges to their admissions policies, which consider race among many factors when evaluating applications.
The policies are designed to boost the number of Black and Hispanic students, and are intended to ensure minority groups are fairly represented among university student bodies.
But the question to be weighed by the court is whether they are discriminatory and violate civil rights laws. Its eventual decision could radically impact the admissions plans of hundreds of institutions of higher education across the US.
The plaintiffs, a non-profit group called Students for Fair Admissions, accuse Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants in order to boost representation from other groups.
Credit: bbc.com
