Ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of affirmative action in universities’ admissions process, 50% of Americans are opposed to the race-based method, according to a Thursday Pew Research poll.
Approximately 74% of Republicans disapprove of the use of affirmative action while 29% of Democrats also disapprove of the race-based admissions process, according to a Pew Research poll. In October, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for two lawsuits which will decide whether Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s use of race-based admission policies is constitutional. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senators Introduce Bill Banning Higher Ed Accreditors From Considering ‘Diversity’ Initiatives)
About 49% of Americans believe that the race-based admissions process makes things less fair while 20% believe it makes the higher education admissions process more fair, the poll showed. Of those without college degrees, 52% disapprove of the use of affirmative action.
A third of Americans believe that the students who are admitted to college because of affirmative action are less qualified to be enrolled at that university, the poll stated. Further, about 35% of black Americans say they have been disadvantaged by the efforts that aim to increase racial diversity.
Proponents for affirmative action in higher education rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on October 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit that fights race-based policies, argued during the Supreme Court oral arguments that the University of North Carolina allegedly uses race as a determining factor through all steps of its admissions process, while Harvard University allegedly puts a specific limit on the number of minority students it accepts into the university.
The nonprofit has asked the court to overrule Grutter v. Bollinger, a landmark case that said affirmative action admissions policies that favor certain races are not a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
The poll was conducted between March 27 to April 2, 2023, surveying 5,079 randomly selected adults.
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