Since the US supreme court banned affirmative action in college admissions in June 2023, US colleges and universities have grappled with how to boost campus diversity amid recent, troubling data.
The latest figures on US college admissions at some major universities have shown drops in Black, Latino and Indigenous first-year enrollment. Such enrollment fell sharply at elite, private colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University and Stanford following the ban on race-conscious admissions, according to preliminary, self-reported data. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a prestigious, public university, also reported that Black and Latino student enrollment fell, by at least 25% and 7%, respectively.
Following the supreme court decision, as a means to encourage equity in the college admissions process, Carleton College, Occidental College, Virginia Tech and Wesleyan University have said they would no longer consider legacy status in admissions, a practice where a prospective student receives preference because of an alumna or alumnus relative. Additionally, several states have banned legacy admissions for public universities entirely, including Virginia, Illinois, California and Maryland.
Read more at The Guardian.
