Axios: “The end of affirmative action, at least on college campuses, is almost certainly near.
The big picture: The Supreme Court said in 2003 that colleges and universities could consider race as a factor when deciding which students to admit, for the sake of building a diverse student body. But now, the much more conservative court appears to be changing its mind.
Driving the news: The court is set to hear oral arguments on Monday over the admissions processes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, both of which give a little extra weight to applicants who come from certain underrepresented groups.
- Life is full of surprises, but the court has sent just about every conceivable signal that it’s likely to put a stop to those sorts of policies.
Why it matters: Harvard and UNC — supported by a host of other schools, as well as business organizations — argue that diversity is essential to the educational experience and that the only effective way to ensure diversity is to make it an explicit part of the admissions process.”