The Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case in the U.S. Supreme Court and background information on the previous cases in California are presented. Allan Bakke is a white male who applied to the Davis medical school in both 1973 and 1974 and was refused admission even though admission slots under the college's special admissions…

Race-conscious affirmative action programs in higher education are subject to strict scrutiny, which is the highest standard of review used by the courts to evaluate a policy's constitutionality. The courts employ a two-part test, examining whether the policy serves a compelling governmental interest (the underlying goal of the policy must be…

The ability of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and undergraduate grade point average (GPA) to predict success in medical school was studied, and two complementary methods of determining if the tests are biased against ethnic groups were examined. Data from 497 majority and 82 minority medical students at the College of Human Medicine at…

Employers and school admissions officials must consider several factors when making choices among applicants, particularly when faced with a need to increase selection of minority group members. Should different standards be applied to different groups? Will acceptance of less qualified applicants from one group affect the overall quality of the…

Employers who hoped the Bakke decision would offer guidance on affirmative action programs have found that the conflict between antidiscrimination laws and affirmative action programs in employment remains largely unresolved. The Supreme Court's opinions in that case are analyzed and the questions answered and issues ignored are discussed.…

Sixteen premedical students from underrepresented minority groups participated in a six-week, six-course program at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (Illinois). Academic performance before and during program participation was compared for students subsequently offered or denied admission. Accepted and denied students could be…

An examination of higher education in India focuses on the complexities of the sociocultural context in which it operates. Public policy concerning equity for specific social groups, including women, racial minorities, castes, and tribes, is discussed and difficulties in bridging the gap between policy and practice are noted. (MSE)

The United States Supreme Court's landmark 2003 decisions in "Grutter v. Bollinger" and "Gratz v. Bollinger" firmly established that university admissions policies which are designed to promote student body diversity and which employ race in a carefully crafted selection process can withstand constitutional challenge. The Supreme Court ruled that…

Discussed is the difficulty encountered in teaching humanities to underprepared students at Florida A & M University, where 90 percent of the students are in the special admissions category that permits enrollment of students who score below the entrance requirement. Administrative neglect of the humanities is also addressed. (JMD)

The efforts and problems of Occidental College, a small, selective liberal arts college in Los Angeles, to bridge the gap between the college and the multicultural city by substantially increasing minority enrollment and faculty are discussed. Lack of faculty and administrative support and the declining applicant pool are among the barriers to…

This legal document presents the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the affirmative action case brought against the University of Michigan's Law School. On June 23, 2003, the Court held in Grutter v. Bollinger et al. that diversity is a compelling interest in higher education and that race is one of a number of factors that can be taken into…

Most educational institutions must meet strict legal requirements when considering race in admissions, financial aid, student assignment, and other policy decisions. Based on U.S. Supreme Court rulings, both the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI require that race-conscious policies be subject to "strict scrutiny." A court evaluates…

The University of California Board of Regents' decision to end racial preferences in hiring, contracting, and admissions represents the most dramatic scaling-back of affirmative action policy in American higher education. The highly controversial decision is accompanied by a policy of increased outreach to low-income and otherwise disadvantaged…

Issues pertaining to the Bakke case and to college admissions in general are considered. Three major viewpoints concerning admissions are as follows: whether reserving a fixed number of seats in the entering class for designated minority candidates to programs that are federally supported violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; whether…

A United Negro College Fund study found that affirmative action policy does not deny Whites access to higher education, but does increase minority access to more selective colleges. It also revealed that, of 1,808 4-year colleges, only 342 are likely to use affirmative action; of these, 120 account for the greatest gain in African American and…