With diversity, equity and inclusion under attack in the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court dissented affirmative action with a 6-3 vote on June 29, 2023. The court’s majority argued that race can no longer be a specific deciding factor for college admission.
This decision unraveled legal precedent that benefited Black and Brown students for decades. Minority members of the court, including newly appointed Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson, stood firmly on the idea that race has impacted and will continue to impact the lives of the American people, including college students. The vision that the majority has for removing race will not eradicate racism or discrimination in institutions of higher learning or elsewhere.
“With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat,” Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent. “But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
The Supreme Court’s decision against affirmative action will significantly impact college students in the United States for years to come. The impact can be viewed through the lens of three key areas: college choice, professional school acceptance and career trajectory.
College Choice
Hossler and Gallagher developed a theoretical framework in 1987 that addresses the three phases that students encounter when deciding to attend college: predisposition, search and choice. With affirmative action eliminated, degree seekers will explore the phases of “search” and “choice” quite differently in years to come. In the latter two phases, students gather more information about institutions like degree programs, campus life and demographics. Similar to job interviews, students are surveying institutions as possible good fits to further their education. Institutional policies and programs that negatively target minority students can serve as deterrents and may significantly impact minority student enrollment at colleges and universities nationwide. The news surrounding affirmative action will likely signal students to survey institutions more intensely before committing to attend.
The college choice process will be significantly interesting for high school students seeking college admission into undergraduate programs. Inequities in public K-12 systems disproportionately impact Black and Brown students whose race,
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