Admissions policies across the nation will have to be revamped if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down race-based admissions in a pending case that has received attention even from the White House.
President Bush spoke out against the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor's affirmative action policies Wednesday. He said that instead he favors affirmative access programs such as that implemented under his watch as Texas governor at the University of Texas-Austin, which grants automatic admission to the top 10 percent of graduating students at each state high school.
But if the Supreme Court finds in favor of affirmative action or bans only policies such as Michigan's point-based admissions system, UNC will be relatively unaffected, University officials say.
Michigan uses a point system where prospective students receive points for each category they fill out on the application.
Students can receive up to 20 out of 150 points if they are an officially recognized minority. An applicant would gain 12 points for a perfect SAT score.
Instead of a point system, UNC admissions officers look at factors such as grades, test scores and extracurricular activities, said Barbara Polk, UNC senior associate director for undergraduate admissions.
"We use race as one of many factors," Polk said. "We try to put students in context of their life experience. We do not say 'yes' or 'no' based on race as a sole factor."
Despite universities' caution, admissions policies that use affirmative action have come under fire around the country.
Programs like those at UNC that encourage minority enrollment are less controversial than affirmative action, but they would have to be abandoned for programs like California's if the Supreme Court determines that any advantage because of race is unconstitutional.
