The College Board Responds to the US Supreme Court’s Fisher v. University of Texas Decision

NEW YORK — In response to the Supreme Court’s decision earlier today on the Fisher v. University of Texas case, College Board President David Coleman issued the following statement: “The College Board’s mission is to deliver opportunity to all students. We believe in the educational benefits of diversity for all students and for the future of our country. In light of our changing demography, the College Board takes seriously its obligation to help develop a leadership cohort that looks like the country we are becoming.”

President Coleman reaffirmed in this context the College Board’s commitment to continue the work of its Access & Diversity Collaborative in serving as a resource regarding the development of effective policies and practices that will support institutional, mission-driven access, diversity and completion goals. 

“We will continue to be a national voice and resource in support of higher education policymakers and institutional leaders who are working to achieve their access and diversity goals in educationally and legally sound ways and, ultimately, to ensure the success of their students,” said Brad Quin, executive director of the College Board’s Access & Diversity Collaborative.

Information about the Access & Diversity Collaborative can be found here.  Please visit the site for updates regarding Fisher’s implications for higher education institutions immediately after and in the days following the decision.

Additional Information on the College Board’s Work on Fisher v. University of Texas

The College Board’s Access & Diversity Collaborative — established in the immediate wake of the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the University of Michigan cases to provide guidance to colleges, universities and state systems of higher education in developing and implementing their access- and diversity-related policies — has been actively working to prepare for the Fisher v. University of Texas decision.

The Collaborative’s work on Fisher v. University of Texas has included:

• Developing two policy papers to provide guidance and insight into the case and prospective steps that universities and colleges should actively consider with respect to their enrollment and diversity policies and practices while the case is being deliberated by the Court;
• In August 2012, filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the University of Texas and its defense of its admission procedures and processes consistent with the Grutter ruling in 2003. This brief was developed in collaboration with the National School Boards Association and includes the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals as signatories, in addition to several other national organizations; and
• Posting regular updates to the Access & Diversity Collaborative website to provide information and guidance to higher education institutions in advance of the decision.