Where Race-Conscious Admissions Has Been Banned
Ten states have prohibited the use of race-conscious admissions and related forms of affirmative action since the 1990s. Hover your cursor over each of those states for key population and enrollment statistics.
After hearing arguments last fall in two cases that challenge race-conscious admissions at colleges, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in a matter of days that could result in a national ban of the practice.
To glimpse the potential impact of such a ruling, The Chronicle looked at how underrepresented-minority enrollment has shifted in the 10 states that have outlawed race-conscious admissions. The Chronicle’s analysis considers enrollment at 23 selective public institutions in states with such bans.
While those state laws apply only to public institutions, the two pending cases could result in bans at private colleges as well.
How Enrollment Changed in States With Race-Conscious Admissions Bans
Five states saw a growing gap between their underrepresented-minority population and in-state underrepresented-minority enrollment at selective institutions. In three states, the gap shrank, and at two the gap stayed the same.
Enrollment by student type
State's college-age population
Enrollment at selective, four-year institutions in each state
See all
Note: The "Ban began" labels indicate the years that the policies were put in place, but they may not have affected the admissions cycle of that year. Starting in 2010, the population data includes the two or more category and comes from the CDC's Single-Race Population Estimates. Prior, these figures are from the CDC's Bridged-Race Estimates.
Not Keeping Pace
In states that have banned race-conscious admissions, the vast majority of flagships did not see their underrepresented-minority enrollment increase at the same rate as their state’s college-age population.
| Flagship university |
Year of state's ban |
Underrepresented-minority enrollment change from ban to 2021 |
Underrepresented-minority population change from ban to 2021 |
|
University of Arizona
|
2010
|
2.2%
|
5.0%
|
|
University of California at Berkeley
|
1996
|
1.7%
|
7.4%
|
|
University of Florida
|
1999
|
5.4%
|
8.8%
|
|
University of Idaho
|
2020
|
-0.4%
|
0.2%
|
|
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
|
2006
|
1.1%
|
1.5%
|
|
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
|
2008
|
5.0%
|
4.7%
|
|
University of New Hampshire
|
2012
|
-0.9%
|
1.8%
|
|
University of Oklahoma at Norman
|
2012
|
2.7%
|
3.5%
|
|
University of Texas at Austin
|
1996 - 2003
|
1.7%
|
2.8%
|
|
University of Washington
|
1998
|
5.5%
|
8.9%
|
Note: Enrollment represents first-year, first-time degree-seeking undergraduates.
Methodology
The state population estimates from 1994 to 2009 of 18-to-24-year-olds by race are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Bridged-Race Population Estimates. From 2010 to 2021, the population estimates are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Single-Race Population Estimates, which includes the two or more category.
The enrollment figures are from the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. They represent fall-enrollment counts. From 1994 to 2007 the enrollment figures for “Asian or Pacific Islander” do not include Hawaiian Natives. After 2007 that group is represented in this category. After 2008, enrollment-figure totals include the “two or more” category. “Underrepresented minorities” are defined as American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic students.
Percentages were calculated after subtracting from the total those whose race or ethnicity was unknown, and nonresident aliens.
Institutions were defined as selective based on the 2021 Carnegie Undergraduate Profile classifications. Institutions that were classified as “more selective” as well as each state’s flagship institution were included in this analysis.
