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Colleges Should Be Allowed to Consider Race in Admissions, Most Americans Say

Colleges Should Be Allowed to Consider Race in Admissions, Most Americans Say
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Colleges Should Be Allowed to Consider Race in Admissions, Most Americans Say

Once again, most Americans support something that conservatives want to ban.

As the Supreme Court rules on affirmative action, a new poll has found that most Americans believe colleges should be allowed to consider race in admissions decisions.


In a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 63 percent of respondents said that the Supreme Court should not ban the nation's colleges from considering race in admissions. This included a majority of both Democrats (65 percent) and Republicans (60 percent), with no significant difference based on race or ethnicity either.

However, 68 percent still said race and ethnicity should not play a large role in admissions decisions. Around two thirds of adults say high school grades should be either extremely or very important in admissions decisions. Just under half say the same for scores on standardized tests.

"Most adults, regardless of political identification, race, or ethnicity believe the Supreme Court should not prohibit the consideration of race and ethnicity in the admissions process," the report reads. "However, few think race and ethnicity should play a major role in college and university admission decisions."

The data compounds a recent decline in the public's trust of the Supreme Court. According to a poll released Friday by KFF, most Americans say that they don't trust the Supreme Court to make decisions about reproductive and sexual health. Only 37 percent of adults said they trust the nation's most powerful court “a lot” or even “somewhat” to make the right decision. Among women, this lack of confidence transcended political parties.

According to the AP-NORC survey, Americans’ confidence in the Supreme Court has been steadily declining since 2016 and is currently at an all-time low. Only 12 percent of adults have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, down from 28 percent in February 2020.

Republicans are three times more likely to have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court than Democrats, yet only 22 percent express confidence in the nation's highest court, compared to 7 percent of Democrats.

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Ryan Adamczeski

Digital Director

Ryan is the Digital Director of The Advocate Channel, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She is also a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics.

Ryan is the Digital Director of The Advocate Channel, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She is also a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics.