Justice Department Takes Aim At Affirmative Action In College Admissions

A year after the Supreme Court decision that allowed the University of Texas at Austin to continue considering race in its admission decisions, the U.S. Justice Department is looking for colleges to sue on behalf of non-minority applicants.

By Jill AmentAugust 2, 2017 11:17 am

On Tuesday, the New York Times published a bombshell report that could rekindle the debate over affirmative action in Texas colleges and universities. A document shows the U.S. Justice Department plans to investigate and even sue colleges over their affirmative action policies. It was only a year ago that the U.S. Supreme Court took up this question in Fischer versus the University of Texas. The judges ruled that colleges could consider race and ethnicity as part of the admissions process.

The Justice Department intends to identify colleges with affirmative action policies that it can sue on behalf of non-minority applicants who were denied admission.

Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Ed says affirmative action is currently used by a relatively small number of colleges in admission decisions – those institutions that are highly selective in admissions, overall. Many other institutions use affirmative action as a part of decisions involving financial aid awards.

 

Written by Shelly Brisbin.