The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing two cases involving the University of North Carolina and Harvard University on whether the schools discriminate against white and Asian American applicants.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that two-thirds of U.S. adults think the Supreme Court should permit the consideration of race and ethnicity of applicants in the admissions process.
This includes a majority of both Democrats (65%) and Republicans (60%). There is no significant difference based on race or ethnicity either. Sixty-two percent of white adults, along with 62% of Black adults and 65% of Hispanic adults think consideration of race and ethnicity should be permitted by colleges. The poll states college-educated adults are more likely to say colleges and universities should be able to consider race and ethnicity compared to those without college degrees.
But race is far from the top factor that people think colleges should weigh in their admissions decisions. About two-thirds of adults say high school grades should be either extremely or very important when colleges and universities make decisions about admitting students. Just under half say the same for scores on standardized tests. According to the poll, the public generally considers athletic ability, race and ethnicity, gender, legacy status, and donations to the school as not too important or not important at all. The public is divided on whether the ability to afford tuition should be important to college and university admissions.