The author reports on the U.S. Supreme Court hearing regarding the Texas admissions case that exposes gaps in the affirmative-action law. As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas at Austin, it became evident that the court's past rulings on such policies have failed to…

A growing number of business schools, including those at Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, and Stanford Universities and the University of Texas at Austin, have instituted programs to catch promising students early. The result, they hope, will be a more diverse student body, with more women and members of minority groups, as well as talented and ambitious…

The use of race-sensitive criteria in admissions continues to be controversial, and critics have leveled three basic charges against it. For one, opponents say the practice constitutes reverse discrimination, lowering the chance of admission for better-qualified white students. They also contend that it creates a mismatch between the skills of…

Thirty years ago, Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. sent the nation's selective colleges down a path where few had ventured before. In the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling in "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke," he wrote that colleges were legally justified in giving some modest consideration to their applicants' race, so…

A recently-released analysis of population data has confirmed the acknowledged trend of major diversification in America's higher education student body. After this year's high-school seniors receive their diplomas, the number of graduates nationwide will begin a slow decline until 2015, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher…

Describes how Richard Tapia, a Rice University mathematician and drag racer, seeks to fuel the aspirations of minority students and women who want to become scientists and engineers. (EV)

Reports on increasing efforts by colleges and universities to meet the spiritual needs of minority students by providing religious centers where students of all faiths can worship under one roof. Examples include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts), and Johns Hopkins University (Maryland). (DB)

Discusses why for-profit colleges, with their career-oriented programs, appeal to many Hispanic, Asian, and black students. (EV)

Describes how the for-profit University of Phoenix is attempting again to enter New Jersey, 3 years after withdrawing an application to operate there. This time, its plan focuses more on female and minority students. (EV)

Explores the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision concerning race-conscious college admissions policies, including the continuing debate, college's admissions reactions, implications for race-exclusive scholarships, and student activism. Includes the complete text of the court's rulings. (EV)

For the first time in 14 years, the number of doctorates awarded by American research universities fell in 1999, with the biggest drops in engineering and physical sciences. Overall, for American citizens, the number of minority doctoral recipients increased by 5.1 percent, with Asian Americans and American Indians showing the largest increases. A…

At the annual meeting of the American Studies Association, scholars deplored the lack of attention paid to the history and culture of ethnic and minority groups. Scholars have recently expanded their understanding of "American" to include Canada, Central and South America. (MLW)

Describes how law reviews are debating whether to change the qualification rules and competitions so that more minority students are admitted as members. (EV)

Describes how members of minority groups view the affirmative action cases at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor on the basis of the difficulty they have had in gaining access to higher education. (EV)

Describes how three prominent advocacy organizations are working to find and challenge any college program that serves only members of specific minority groups. (EV)