How to Achieve Diverse Access to College in a Post-Affirmative Action World. Research Report

There is an abundance of research on the college admissions process and the practices selective schools employ to evaluate and select students. Most findings are complex, nuanced, or conflicting. Less than a month after the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in "Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard" and "Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina" that colleges and universities could no longer consider an applicant's race or ethnicity when making admissions decisions, the Urban Institute hosted a convening of academic researchers, officials from the US Department of Education and the Biden-Harris administration, and representatives of philanthropic foundations and advocacy organizations for a wide-ranging discussion about the future of college admissions from a research perspective. Informed largely by the discussions from that convening, this report identifies key themes from the relevant research on the recruitment and admissions practices that will play a significant role in the future of college student diversity. Additionally, this report highlights areas for more research and the data needed to support additional areas of future research.