US Supreme Court, Race & Admissions

In 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that universities in the US could no longer use race as a factor for admissions. Though this ruling may seem clear, how universities have chosen to interpret and implement it is fascinating. 

Let’s look at two universities as examples of how wide-ranging the impact of the ruling on actual admissions practices has been. Johns Hopkins and Northwestern universities are both highly selective private institutions with similar undergraduate populations. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, both universities had roughly the same percentages of underrepresented students. However, following the ruling, Johns Hopkins saw its numbers of Black and Hispanic accepted students drop dramatically while its proportion of Asian and Caucasian students rose by more than 15 percent each. Northwestern, on the other hand, experienced a rise in Black and Hispanic students, while the proportion of White and Asian students as a percentage of their total student population actually decreased. How can this be?

As a response to the Supreme Court ruling, Northwestern dropped the Common App Personal Statement as a required element of its application, knowing that this often deterred underrepresented students from applying. Furthermore, the university changed its supplemental essays to ensure that students had multiple opportunities to talk about their race, their community, or challenges faced within their upbringing. In other words, they invited students to voluntarily bring race into the admissions process. Conversely, Johns Hopkins’ supplemental essays link personal experience to the student’s academic course of study and offer fewer opportunities to bring race into the picture. The university’s focus on merit and academic scores further skews its admissions statistics toward candidates with socioeconomic advantages. Clearly, universities are devising their own unique criteria in choosing how to weigh factors like academics, experience, and surrounding credentials. 

In the United States, the question of how race impacts admissions processes and campus life is unlikely to go away anytime soon. In fact, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is in the news daily now as the Trump administration looks to limit or ban practices ranging from racially based housing to scholarships or financial aid based on race or ethnicity.

What is DEI?

You may have heard of affirmative action in relation to “DEI” recently and it simply means the consideration or favor extended toward those considered disadvantaged or minorities in the context of employment, education, and allocation of resources. The DEI policy was created to build educational and workplace populations that reflected the communities they served. Concepts related to DEI were initially introduced in the 1960s during the US Civil Rights Movement in response to unequal treatment based on religion, race, and origin. Recent tragedies such as the killing of George Floyd have brought DEI to the limelight and have heavily influenced university admissions practices, campus activities, and even teaching approaches. Universities struggled to interpret what was “fair” and “just.” Now, they are grappling with how to evaluate whether and to what extent race should be a factor.

DEI & International Students

For now, the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent DEI measures appear to have little to no impact on international students, as universities value these populations for their cultural diversity and contribution to the financial health of their campuses. Furthermore, most policies under the Trump administration are aimed at illegal citizenship and work. So, underrepresented US citizens and illegal immigrants to the US will receive reduced access to resources, including education. International students and their contributions are still attractive to institutions and to the US — even more so, high achieving and high reaching international students. Please contact your Ivy Options counselor or info@ivyoptions.com with any questions.