Ivy League And Elite Universities Scramble To Plan For A Future Without Affirmative Action

CAMBRIDGE, MA – SEPTEMBER 12: Freshman Winston Yan enters the Admissions Building at Harvard … [+] University September 12, 2006 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard is eliminating early admissions beginning next year because of criticism that it favors wealthier students and hinders those seeking financial aid since the deadlines for aid are much later. (Photo by Glen Cooper/Getty Images)

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As the end of affirmative action decision reverberates through higher education, colleges and universities — including Ivy League and other elite institutions — are bracing for the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision. Many have already begun the process of exploring alternative means of making their admissions processes more equitable without affirmative action.

Duke University recently rolled out a financial aid plan that will offer full tuition grants for students from North Carolina and South Carolina whose household income is less than $150,000. This plan, which will begin in the coming fall semester, could become a model for other schools seeking to diversify their campus communities while abiding by the Supreme Court’s decision. In addition to full tuition grants, students whose household income is below $65,000 will receive additional benefits, including financial support for housing, dining, and other course-related needs.

Though the university has denied the program is a direct response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, the move appears to be tied not only to the end of the admissions practice, but also the impending decision in another case targeting President Joe Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan. The university’s press release expressly states the initiative is intended to eliminate lower-income students’ “need for student loans,” and the household income outlined in the initiative notably mirrors the individual income cap Biden included in his loan forgiveness plan.

While the decision in favor of Students for Fair Admissions is a historic one that promises to have a significant impact on higher education institutions across the nation, it was not unexpected. Oral arguments in October were punctuated with sharp exchanges and clear skepticism from the Supreme Court’s conservative bloc. Some conservatives on the bench, most notably Justice Clarence Thomas, have dissented regarding race-conscious admissions long before the issue was raised in the court. While a decision has yet to be released regarding student loan forgiveness, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears poised to shoot down Biden’s plan, as the justices expressed concern that the sweeping plan, costing approximately $400 billion, did not pass through Congress before its release.

With these seismic shifts in the higher education landscape, institutions and adjacent organizations such as the Common App are implementing changes to ensure both the constitutionality of their practices, and the racial and socioeconomic diversity of student populations. In January, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers urged its members to “examine any admissions or recruitment practices that target populations of a specific race as well as their overall holistic/equity admissions practices.” Meanwhile, in May, the Common App announced it would permit colleges to hide racial demographic information on students’ applications from admissions committees.

Duke’s program could be an indicator of the measures colleges and universities will have to adopt in order to avoid precipitous drops in the number of students of color who enroll. Addressing the announcement, Christoph Guttentag, the dean of admissions at Duke, stated to Inside Higher Ed: “We’re doing this for the most straightforward of reasons, which is affordability and access. But diversity is not one-dimensional. It manifests in various and interconnected ways, so any additional benefits we’d be grateful for.”

Universities in California and Michigan—states that banned race-conscious admissions in 1996 and 2006, respectively—could also lend insight into how schools can seek to increase diversity after affirmative action. The University of California has implemented a notable statewide guarantee program, in which the top 9% of students at schools in California are guaranteed spots at state universities. Likewise, the University of Michigan system conducted far-reaching recruitment efforts in underserved communities, seeking to increase diversity on campus through race-neutral means.

However, some people in higher education remain skeptical that plans easing the burden on lower-income students and other attempts to level the admissions playing field will necessarily preserve or increase racial diversity on campus. The University of Michigan and the University of California submitted briefs to the Supreme Court on behalf of Harvard and UNC, alleging race-neutral recruitment was not sufficient in diversifying campus communities. As Erica Sanders, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Michigan, a school which notably faced a statewide ban on race-conscious admissions in the 1990s, states to the Associated Press: “Socioeconomic status is not a proxy for race.”