A Project of Lumina Foundation and The Century Foundation
As the United States experiences dramatic demographic change—and as our society’s income inequality continues to rise—promoting racial, ethnic, and economic inclusion at selective colleges has become more important than ever. At the same time, however, many Americans—including several members of the U.S. Supreme Court—are uneasy with explicitly using race as a factor in college admissions. The Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas emphasized that universities can use race in admissions only when “necessary,” and that universities bear “the ultimate burden of demonstrating, before turning to racial classifications, that available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice.”
With race-based admission programs increasingly curtailed, The Future of Affirmative Action explores race-neutral approaches as a method of promoting college diversity after Fisher decision. The volume suggests that Fisher might on the one hand be a further challenge to the use of racial criteria in admissions, but on the other presents a new opportunity to tackle, at long last, the burgeoning economic divisions in our system of higher education, and in society as a whole.
Contributions from: Danielle Allen (Princeton); John Brittain (University of the District of Columbia) and Benjamin Landy (MSNBC.com); Nancy Cantor and Peter Englot (Rutgers–Newark); Anthony P. Carnevale , Stephen J. Rose, and Jeff Strohl (Georgetown University); Dalton Conley (New York University); Arthur L. Coleman and Teresa E. Taylor (EducationCounsel LLC); Matthew N. Gaertner (Pearson); Sara Goldrick-Rab (University of Wisconsin–Madison); Scott Greytak (Campinha Bacote LLC); Catharine Hill (Vassar); Richard D. Kahlenberg (The Century Foundation); Richard L. McCormick (Rutgers); Nancy G. McDuff (University of Georgia); Halley Potter (The Century Foundation); Alexandria Walton Radford (RTI International) and Jessica Howell (College Board); Richard Sander (UCLA School of Law); and Marta Tienda (Princeton).
Please click here to read the full report online, or download individual chapters below:
1—Introduction, by Richard D. Kahlenberg
Download Chapter 1
2—Defining the Stakes, by Nancy Cantor and Peter Englot
Download Chapter 2
3—Promoting Economic Diversity for College Affordability, by Sara Goldrick-Rab
Download Chapter 3
4—Emphasis Added, by Arthur L. Coleman and Teresa E. Taylor
Download Chapter 4
5—New Rules for Affirmative Action in Higher Education, by Scott Greytak
Download Chapter 5
6—Transitioning to Race-Neutral Admissions, by Halley Potter
Download Chapter 6
7—Striving for Neutrality, by Marta Tienda
Download Chapter 7
8—The Use of Socioeconomic Affirmative Action at the University of California, by Richard Sander
Download Chapter 8
9—Converging Perils to College Access for Racial Minorities, by Richard L. McCormick
Download Chapter 9
10—Ensuring Diversity under Race-Neutral Admissions, by Nancy G. McDuff and Halley Potter
Download Chapter 10
11—Addressing Undermatch, by Alexandria Walton Radford and Jessica Howell
Download Chapter 11
12—Talent Is Everywhere, by Danielle Allen
Download Chapter 12
13—Reducing Reliance on Testing to Promote Diversity, by John Brittain and Benjamin Landy
Download Chapter 13
14—Advancing College Access with Class-Based Affirmative Action, by Matthew N. Gaertner
Download Chapter 14
15—Achieving Racial and Economic Diversity with Race-Blind Admissions Policy, by Anthony P. Carnevale, Stephen J. Rose, and Jeff Strohl
Download Chapter 15
16—The Why, What, and How of Class-Based Admissions Policy, by Dalton Conley
Download Chapter 16
17—A Collective Path Upward, by Richard Sander
Download Chapter 17
18—Increasing Socioeconomic Diversity in American Higher Education, by Catharine Hill
Download Chapter 18
