Biden Administration Releases New Admissions Guidance Following Affirmative Action Ban

Following the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action, the Biden administration has released new guidance to help colleges navigate legally viable admissions practices and ensure their campuses recruit and admit diverse classes.

“We know what has happened at colleges, when individual states have banned affirmative action in the past,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says. “Fewer students of color applied, and fewer students of color were admitted. We cannot afford that kind of backpedaling on a national scale.”

The Supreme Court gutted affirmative action back in June, effectively ending race-conscious admissions at colleges and universities across the country. The ban ends the ability of colleges and universities to consider race as a factor when deciding which applicant to admit.

NEW GUIDANCE FOR NAVIGATING ADMISSIONS

In a seven-page Q&A, the Departments of Education and Justice offer colleges new admissions strategies that can help them identify potential barriers to higher education for underrepresented students.

Additionally, the new guidance presses colleges to reexamine admissions preferences such as legacy status or donor affiliation “that are unrelated to a prospective applicant’s individual merit or potential, that further benefit privileged students, and that reduce opportunities for others who have been foreclosed from such advantages.”

According to the Biden administration, the new guidance is just the first step to ensuring that colleges keep their doors open to students of color.

“With respect to admissions practices themselves, especially for the upcoming cycle, the Departments encourage colleges and universities to review their policies to ensure they identify and reward those attributes that they most value, such as hard work, achievement, intellectual curiosity, potential and determination,” the administration says.

LEGACY ADMISSIONS

While legacy admissions has faced scrutiny and come under investigation in recent years, the Department of Education did state that the Supreme Court’s decision does not prevent institutions from reevaluating their policies. Additionally, the department explicitly stated that new guidance is not an indication on how the investigation may unfold.

“We’re not in this document previewing what the department may recommend later,” an official says. “We are wanting to be very clear for schools the discretion that they retain in this area as they make their own decisions.”

Sources: Politico, Washington Post, Department of Education

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