Affirmative Action and Its Alternatives in Public Universities: What Do We Know?

Abstract

University administrators have made difficult choices in response to the changing policy context for the use of affirmative action in admissions. This paper synthesizes the empirical literature on affirmative action and evaluates the efficacy of alternative strategies, including top‐percent programs, class‐based affirmative action, and targeted recruiting. The analyses offer several findings of interest to officials who direct such programs: (1) Affirmative action preferences given by top‐tier universities have been large; (2) affirmative action leads minorities to enroll in higher‐quality institutions; and (3) affirmative action has mostly positive effects on minority students later in life. The evidence shows a decline in minorities’ relative share of enrollment at flagship public universities after affirmative action was eliminated in several states, and the alternative strategies used by these universities have not offset these declines.

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