Affirmative action has been shot down by the nation's highest court.
In a major blow to some of America's most prestigious universities, admissions are not allowed to legally be based on an applicant's race, as Harvard and the University of North Carolina argued.
The court ruled on Thursday morning that using race as a factor in college admissions violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. While some colleges have reasoned that race-based admissions ensure diversity, opponents have said it discriminates against qualified students based on the color of their skin. Students for Fair Admissions, a student activist group, brought the two cases against Harvard and UNC.
Until today's decision, lower courts had ruled in favor of both universities.
Complaints against Harvard alleged the admissions process harmed Asian American students. In a recent example, an Asian American student with an outstanding 4.65 high school GPA and a near-perfect SAT score was denied from all Ivy League schools he applied to.
The court's decision asserts that "nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant's discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise. But, despite the dissent's assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today."
As recent Pew Research Center data shows, half of U.S. adults say they disapprove of selective colleges and universities taking prospective students’ racial and ethnic backgrounds into account when making admissions decisions.
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