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Looks like the Supreme Court is finally getting around to challenging affirmative action. Of course we don't know what the ruling will be, but with the decisions so far I'm hopeful they strike down AA, or at least put a dent in it.
I'm surprised this isn't a bigger deal as I haven't heard much buzz about it from my liberal friends. According to the article, 74% of Americans don't believe in using race as a factor in college admissions (although that question and whether or not Affirmative Action should be struck down likely have far different approval rates.) It may be a Roe situation where they really don't care until one of the sacred cows is gored because they believe in their own invincibility. I'm curious if AA does get struck down, will we have the same reaction as Roe?
I'm sure some people will be upset, but do you think liberal states will start changing their constitutions to allow race filtering for college admissions? Or is the political will for AA just gone on both sides of the aisle?
Prediction market thinks there is very good chance AA is struck down.
https://kalshi.com/events/SFFA/markets/SFFA-COMPLETE
There will certainly be some response. but if they persist in racial discrimination I would wonder how they will deal with the likely outcome of lots of talented applicants being siphoned off to colleges in other states? Will there be some kind of additional certification or requirement that a school has to meet to be listed as a 'truly' accredited institution? Maybe federal funding is tied to some other metric that is loosely tied to racial diversity.
An interesting tactic that I might expect to see is simply raising tuition prices across the board WHILE offering special scholarships to cover all or most of the price to eligible students based on race, so at least you can get applicants to self-select for which schools they go to, and can say "well we are not using race-based admissions standards!"
Although the ultimate decision striking down AA might be broad enough that even THAT form of discrimination would be suspect.
I can't imagine it will be as severe as all that, and yet Universities as a class have a LOT of political sway so I'm thinking we will definitely see some fits pitched.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if affirmative action, in practice, increased. I could see universities and states like California amd New York doubling down on AA out of spite, using the court case as a flag to rally around.
Maybe packaged with a larger 'reparations' policy or otherwise making it clear that they're going to spend EVEN MORE money trying to achieve racial parity, even if it isn't allowed in Admissions.
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