The Biden administration introduced new federal guidance on Monday to help colleges and universities navigate admissions in the post-affirmative action era.
The recommendations include urging schools to reconsider legacy admissions policies as well as expand targeted outreach to students of color at under-served high schools.
At a press conference on Zoom, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta encouraged colleges to consider an applicant's grit, curiosity and perseverance despite the Supreme Court's May ruling overturning race as a consideration in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
“The Supreme Court's decision does not end our charge and it does not relieve educational institutions of their duties to ensure that their admissions practices do not create barriers for students based on any protected characterizations, including race,” Gupta said.
The new guidelines are posted on the U.S. Department of Education's website. Other suggestions for keeping college campuses diverse in the wake of the ruling include recruiting more first-generation college students or Pell grant eligible students.
“In addition, nothing in the decision prevents an institution from determining whether preferences for legacy students or children of donors, for example, run counter to efforts to promote equal opportunities for all students in the context of college admissions," the guidelines state.
Colleges can still collect and report demographic data about the race of applicants and admitted students in order to track admissions, retention and graduation rates as long as it is not used to decide whether an applicant is admitted to the school. Officials said it remains a necessary metric for colleges to determine that they are not discriminating on the basis of race, sex or disability, the official said.
The new guidance comes as some local colleges and universities, including Harvard, UMass Amherst and Tufts, are updating their applications and encouraging prospective students to write and talk about how race has affected their life experiences in essays and interviews.
"This is a moment of great urgency in higher education," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said at the event. "If we want higher education to be an engine of equal opportunity, upward mobility and global competitiveness, we need colleges to reflect the beautiful diversity of this country."
Department of Education officials said they will release a comprehensive new report outlining practices to build diverse and inclusive campus communities in the fall.
