Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upended decades of precedent by ruling that universities could no longer use affirmative action to determine admissions for students.
In the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court explained in the majority opinion that the color of a student’s skin can no longer determine his or her entry into a school.
When ruling against Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC) in a companion case, the court decided in a majority 6-3 opinion that using a student’s race to determine admissions is in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that a student “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual” rather than race. The admissions process for both schools were seen as penalizing Asian American students.
While the process for universities to fully correct course to abide by the decision may take several years, the results are already positive with meritocracy appearing to return to the forefront of academia in America.
In the time since the Supreme Court’s decision, several prominent universities have already adopted new admissions processes as well as now requiring students to submit standardized testing scores once again with their applications.
At Harvard University, admissions previously had optional writing components where potential students could write about topics pertaining to them and their interests or experiences with their identity. After the court’s ruling, the school altered the questions asked to applicants. The school then reinstated the submission of standardized test scores as mandatory for applicants applying for the fall 2025 semester.
Other prominent universities have also reinstated standardized test scores for their admissions. Dartmouth College was the first Ivy League school to require SAT or ACT scores again after the ruling. Yale, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania are among those that followed suit. Even UNC updated its process for applicants.
All these universities that used affirmative action for their admissions had to review and change the policies in place for how applicants are admitted. In the two years since the Supreme Court’s decision, there appears to have been an impact.
In recent years, affirmative action generally impacted white and Asian students negatively while positively impacting black and Hispanic students. The end of affirmative action in schools has appeared to even the playing field, with merit now playing a more significant factor in determining a student’s admittance. That can be seen in the data of students now enrolled in these schools.
After the court’s ruling, UNC saw a dip in the percentage of black and Hispanic students, but the percentage of Asian students increased. Harvard saw a decrease in the percentage of black students but an increase for Hispanic students. The percentage of Asian students at Harvard stayed the same.
At Columbia, the percentage of Asian students jumped from 30% to 39% within a year, while the percentage of black students dropped from 20% to 12%. This is a common trend among elite universities.
Seeing the percentage of black and Hispanic students decrease is nothing to celebrate. The goal should be to see all students thrive regardless of skin color. However, until we solve the separate problem of why black and Hispanic students struggle more than their peers, seeing merit as a core focus again in admissions is a positive shift.
There is an understandable concern that universities will attempt to bypass the Supreme Court’s ruling to a certain extent. University leadership is open about attempting this.
Schools are trying other means to indirectly use affirmative action to admit students.
While Yale leadership did administer changes to the university’s admissions process, the school is still promoting a “culture of diversity and inclusivity” by expanding outreach plans and creating new talent pipelines. Brown University also intends to indirectly implement affirmative action through “pathway programs, targeted outreach, and pipeline programs.”
This is happening at other universities as well.
President Donald Trump and his administration will need to work to ensure that universities follow the Supreme Court’s ruling and additionally make sure they drop all initiatives that promote student admissions based on race. In fact, the Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools in February demanding exactly that. With an administration in charge that values merit, America’s universities are well advised to follow the law.
The Supreme Court’s decision to end race-based admissions in schools in 2023 is already having a positive impact by ensuring institutions of higher learning prioritize meritocracy above immutable characteristics. The era of schools judging potential students by the color of their skin is thankfully coming to an end.
While there is still a lot of work to accomplish to ensure that all students who want to attend the nation’s elite universities are on par academically with their peers, ending affirmative action is the first step in achieving true equality for all.
Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Defending Education and a contributor to Daily Caller News Foundation.
