US Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in university admissions

The US Supreme Court has found that Harvard and the University of North Carolina's admissions policy violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The US Supreme Court has ruled that universities cannot consider a prospective student's race when deciding admission.

The court overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private and public colleges, respectively. In a blockbuster decision that will force many American colleges to overhaul their admissions policies, the justices ruled in favor of a group called Students for Fair Admissions, founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, in its appeal of lower court rulings upholding programs used at the two prestigious schools to foster a diverse student population.

Students applying will still be able talk about their identity, if their race motivated them to pursue that course or other ways it contributed to their decision to apply.

But universities now can't use race as a factor in their admissions processes when considering candidates.

Sources: Reuters | NPR | BBC | Associated Press | Read the Decision (New York Times) | Supreme Court of the United States: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (PDF)