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Is There a “Workable” Race‐Neutral Alternative to Affirmative Action in College Admissions?

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  • Mark C. Long

Abstract

The 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case clarified when and how it is legally permissible for universities to use an applicant's race or ethnicity in its admissions decisions. The court concluded that such use is permissible when “no workable race‐neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity.” This paper shows that replacing traditional affirmative action with a system that uses an applicant's predicted likelihood of being an underrepresented racial minority as a proxy for the applicant's actual minority status can yield an admitted class that has a lower predicted grade point average and likelihood of graduating than the class that would have been admitted using traditional affirmative action. This result suggests that race‐neutral alternatives may not be “workable” from the university's perspective.

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  • Mark C. Long, 2015. "Is There a “Workable” Race‐Neutral Alternative to Affirmative Action in College Admissions?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 162-183, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:34:y:2015:i:1:p:162-183
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.21800
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mark C. Long & Victor Saenz & Marta Tienda, 2010. "Policy Transparency and College Enrollment: Did the Texas Top Ten Percent Law Broaden Access to the Public Flagships?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 627(1), pages 82-105, January.
    2. Peter Hinrichs, 2012. "The Effects of Affirmative Action Bans on College Enrollment, Educational Attainment, and the Demographic Composition of Universities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(3), pages 712-722, August.
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    6. Mark C. Long, 2004. "Race and College Admissions: An Alternative to Affirmative Action?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 1020-1033, November.
    7. Jessica S. Howell, 2010. "Assessing the Impact of Eliminating Affirmative Action in Higher Education," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(1), pages 113-166, January.
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