Colleges directed by Trump to demonstrate they avoid factors of race in enrollment procedures
In a significant shift, colleges across the United States are adapting their admissions strategies to comply with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling that prohibits affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling, which allowed colleges to consider how race has impacted students' lives, has led to a move towards race-neutral admissions practices.
One of the key strategies colleges are employing is the elimination or revision of diversity-related essays and prompts. Universities like the University of Virginia and Cornell have removed or retracted supplemental essays that could be used to indirectly signal race or racial experiences to admissions officers, responding to Department of Justice (DOJ) warnings that such essays could be considered unlawful if they advantage applicants tied to protected characteristics.
Another strategy is relying more on standardized test scores and academic metrics. Experts suggest that in the current legal environment, the safest admissions methods are either admitting all applicants or relying solely on standardized test scores, as other nuanced approaches risk DOJ enforcement actions.
The Trump administration's July-August 2025 directive also requires colleges to submit detailed admissions data to the Department of Education, including applicants' and admitted students' race, gender, GPAs, standardized test scores, and first-generation status disaggregated by race. This transparency push aims to monitor and prevent any covert racial preferences.
Colleges are also rethinking place-based or legacy preferences, as the DOJ has declared many DEI-related practices potentially unlawful. This puts pressure on colleges to abandon or modify programs thought to create diversity indirectly, such as place-based recruitment or legacy admissions.
Some institutions have closed centers or rolled back programs tailored to specific demographic groups out of caution, given intensified DOJ scrutiny. There's also been a trend towards broad removal or scaling back of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
However, this shift towards race-neutral admissions has not been without challenges. Many students, due to the political climate, won't report their race, which can give a partial picture of the campus makeup when schools release data on student demographics. To overcome this, some colleges have added more essays or personal statements to their admissions process to get a better picture of an applicant's background.
The University of California system, for instance, started a program that promises admission to the top 9% of students in each high school across the state. Despite this, the system saw a drop in Black and Hispanic enrollments after the statewide ban in 1996. Similarly, the University of Michigan, after Michigan voters rejected affirmative action in 2006, shifted attention to low-income students. However, the share of Black and Hispanic undergraduates hasn't fully rebounded from a falloff after 2006.
The practical impact of these changes on colleges is unclear, as they are prohibited by law from collecting information on race as part of admissions. Jon Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, states that the practical impact of the executive order is uncertain.
In conclusion, colleges are moving towards race-neutral admissions practices focused on academic metrics and broader transparency, while eliminating any admissions components that could be interpreted as proxies for race or that advantage protected groups, to comply with the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent DOJ interpretations and enforcement.
- Policymakers and legislators are discussing drafting new policies and legislation to address education and self-development, given the recent shifts in college admissions practices, such as the move towards race-neutral admissions, focusing on academic metrics and transparency, and the elimination of diversity-related essays.
- The general news is reporting an increasing focus on learning and academic excellence, as colleges and universities adapt to a legal environment that prohibits the use of race in admissions, leading to the elimination of diversity-related essays, a reliance on standardized test scores, and the scaling back of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.
