August 2022

With the U.S. Supreme Court scheduled to hear oral arguments in two major affirmative action cases on October 31, AERA is taking action to ensure that high-quality, rigorous research is considered during the court’s deliberations and is part of the broader public conversation.

On August 1, AERA and six other leading research associations submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of narrowly tailored race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Joining AERA on the brief were the American Anthropological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and the Linguistic Society of America.  

AERA has a long history of supporting race-conscious admissions policies, filing amicus briefs in four Supreme Court cases from 2003 to 2015. As it did in those cases, AERA is developing a resource page on its website where the public can access its 2022 brief, the petitioner and respondent briefs, other research briefs, links to the research cited in AERA’s brief, and more. In October, AERA will hold a public briefing in Washington, D.C., to examine the research consensus on the value of race-conscious admissions policies.

A Supreme Court ruling against the universities in the cases Students for Fair Admissions, Inc., v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc., v. University of North Carolina, et al could upend decades of legal precedent supporting the right of higher education institutions to consider student body diversity in making their admissions decisions.

“It is critical, as the court weighs these cases, to rely on a substantial body of high-quality, rigorous research and an impressive scientific consensus,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “The research is clear: It is in the best interest of students and the nation for the court to reaffirm the compelling governmental interest in student body diversity and to affirm the lower court judgments upholding the admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.”

“In 2003, the Supreme Court cited significant studies when it ruled in Grutter v. Bollinger that promoting student body diversity is a compelling interest that can justify race-conscious admissions policies,” Levine said. “The scientific literature supporting the diversity interest was already well-established nearly two decades ago and has grown even more expansive since Grutter.”

The Grutter decision cited AERA’s brief, noting how research has found that student body diversity promotes learning outcomes and better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce and society.