Dive Summary:
- One week before the Supreme Court begins the oral argument in the Fisher v. University of Texas, a landmark affirmative action case, the Century Foundation is releasing a report titled "A Better Affirmative Action: State Universities That Created Alternatives to Racial Preferences" that proposes socioeconomic affirmative action as a better alternative to race-based admissions.
- The report's author, Richard Kahlenberg, uses policies implemented by seven states--Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona and New Hampshire--where race-based admissions were banned at some point (Texas' ban, for example, was later overturned).
- With the exception of Michigan, these states implemented a combination of policies--increased financial aid, admission of all top high school students, partnerships with K-12 schools and providing an admissions advantage to low-income and working class students--and saw racial diversity rise to greater levels, despite an initial drop during the first year.
From the article:
A new report from the Century Foundation, released one week before the Supreme Court is set to hear what could be a landmark case on affirmative action in university admissions, argues that universities could become more diverse by eliminating the consideration of race. ...