Selective colleges lose diversity with affirmative action ban, study finds

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A ban on race-conscious admissions practices in selective colleges would threaten the racial and ethnic diversity of their student bodies, according to a new analysis from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW).

The new report comes ahead of the Supreme Court’s high-stakes decision on discrimination cases brought against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, whose affirmative action policies are accused of hurting Asian and Asian American applicants. A ruling in favor of a ban is expected by the end of June.

CEW researchers analyzed six different admissions models and their possible impact on racial and socioeconomic diversity across selective colleges.

Of these models, two specifically consider class-conscious admissions as alternatives to race-conscious admissions.

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Class-conscious admissions are often proposed as alternatives because students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds tend to be underrepresented at selective colleges across nearly all racial groups, the researchers said. However, they found that such admissions practices can only “partially claw back the levels of diversity” if affirmative action is banned.

The researchers specifically found that white, Asian and Asian American students are “much more likely” to come from upper and upper middle-class families than African American and Hispanic students.

Additionally, they pointed out that class-conscious admissions would decrease the number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students — groups that are typically lumped together with Asian Americans — as well as American Indian or Alaska Native students.

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