Since 1978, U.S. law allowed colleges to consider race or ethnicity as one factor in admissions to achieve the educational benefits of diversity. But this changed after the Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling on affirmative action. Now, most colleges that considered race in admissions will need to revise their practices to comply with the Court’s decision.

How many students will be affected by this ruling? Using newly collected data, Sarah Reber, Gabriela Goodman, and Rina Nagashima share their findings on college admissions practices and discuss the potential effects on a range of race-conscious practices in higher education.