Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading

California, Michigan universities argue they need affirmative action

The University of Michigan and the University of California are arguing that efforts to build a diverse student body without affirmative action have not gone well, per the New York Times.

Why it matters: The Supreme Court is set to consider the future of affirmative action this fall. The information from the University of Michigan and the University of California may play a role in that case.


Driving the news: Attorneys for the universities recently argued in amicus briefs filed to the Supreme Court that the schools struggled to create a racially diverse freshman class without affirmative action, per the New York Times.

  • “Despite persistent, vigorous and varied efforts to increase student body racial and ethnic diversity by race-neutral means, the admission and enrollment of underrepresented minority students have fallen precipitously in many of U-M’s schools and colleges," the brief from Michigan's side read.

By the numbers: The University of California, Berkeley, admitted 258 Black students and 27 Native American students for the 2021 freshman class, which was made up of 6,931 students, according to school data.

  • At the University of Michigan, 4% of the incoming freshman class for 2021 were Black students, per NYT.
  • The University of California spent more than $500,000 in outreach efforts to increase its diversity, the Times reports.

The big picture: The Supreme Court is expected to hear two cases that could determine the future of affirmative action in higher education, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez writes.

  • Affirmative action supporters worry that the court — which has three Trump appointees — will eliminate admission policies that help Black and Hispanic students, CNN reports.

Zoom in: The conservative nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) is arguing Harvard and the University of North Carolina discriminated against Asian American applicants.

  • Lower courts already ruled in favor of Harvard and the University of North Carolina, saying their programs used race in a limited way to create a diverse student body.
  • The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court last year to reject the challenges to the schools' policies, per Reuters.

Go deeper: Supreme Court's next term could be just as contentious

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.