UW-Madison campus could see less diversity
Court to rule in coming weeks on affirmative action cases
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has long struggled to enroll more students of color. ● Recruitment could become even more difficult in the coming years. ● The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks on two cases involving affirmative action, the controversial practice of considering race in college admissions as a way to diversify enrollment. The nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, arguing that affirmative action treats underrepresented minorities differently, which is neither “equal” nor fair.
Legal experts widely expect the conservative-majority court to limit or ban affirmative action. While much attention has focused on the effect at Ivy League institutions and other small private schools with few seats to offer, experts say the broadest impact will be felt at large and selective public universities, including UW-Madison.
How is race used in admissions at UW-Madison?
As the most selective institution in the state, there’s always been a bit of mystery surrounding the UW-Madison admissions process. The university relies on a “holistic” review and considers a range of factors it has ranked in terms of relative importance:
● Very important: Rigor of an applicant’s high school record and GPA.
● Important: Letters of recommendation, essays, extracurriculars, state residency and personal qualities.
● Considered: Race/ethnicity, test scores, first-generation status, talent/ ability and volunteer and work experience.
● Not considered: Interviews, religious affiliation, the level of an applicant’s interest in the school and whether family members previously attended.
What do admissions statistics show?
UW-Madison accepted 49% of new freshman applicants for the incoming fall 2022 class.
For most of the past decade, the
school accepted a much larger share of white applicants than Black or Hispanic applicants. Only in the past two to three years were Black and Hispanic applicants admitted at a higher rate than white applicants, according to university data.
The incoming freshman class last fall was the most diverse in UW-Madison history. About 17% of the class were underrepresented students of color, a category that includes Hispanic, Black, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian students.
The student body as a whole this school year was 60% white, 15% international, 9% Asian, 7% Hispanic, 4% two or more races, 3% unknown and 2% Black.
Why do schools practice affirmative action?
Most flagships operated as open-access institutions for much of their history, meaning they accepted the majority of all applicants. Beginning around the 1960s, demand began to exceed capacity. Schools started choosing the most academically prepared students, though they also wanted to make sure they were accessible to people from every community across their state, including underrepresented groups.
Affirmative action arose from that interest. But from the outset, it was a deeply unpopular policy and remains so today. Even in California, a liberal bastion, the practice lost by 14 points when put up for referendum in 1996.
Surveys in recent years have also shown the American public largely opposes admissions officials using race and ethnicity to help decide who gets into the best colleges.
How would a ban on affirmative action change UW-Madison student body?
In California, the ban has been felt broadly. The top two public universities — University of California-Los Angeles and UC-Berkeley — saw Black and Hispanic enrollment fall by 40%, said Yale University economist Yale University economist Zachary Bleemer, who has written about the ramifications of the state’s ban. The UC System since then has annually received about 250 fewer Black and 900 fewer Hispanic applications, even though 80% of those students likely would have been admitted to at least one UC campus.
Most of the students shut out of UCLA and Berkeley didn’t exit higher education altogether, he said. Many ended up at less competitive schools with fewer resources: less financial aid, fewer advisers, less tutoring support. That’s led to worse academic outcomes, such as lower graduation rates, higher dropout rates and longer time-to-degree.
In Michigan, Black undergraduate enrollment dropped to 4% in 2021 from 7% in 2006, the year the state banned affirmative action by referendum.
But some other states without affirmative action programs, like Oklahoma, said their flagship university “remains just as diverse today (if not more so)” than when affirmative action was banned there in 2012. Oklahoma noted that its flagship enrolls a similar number of Black students as race-conscious states like Wisconsin.
Oklahoma argues that considering race is “patently unconstitutional” and “devolves into the very tokenism that respondents claim to be trying to combat.”
What are the long-term effects?
Disadvantaged students derive more benefit from a flagship university’s resources than the more advantaged students taking their places, Bleemer said. Affluent students had access to private institutions of a similar quality before the ban. So enrolling at the flagship didn’t make them any more likely to graduate.
“The University of Wisconsin would become, on average, a little less valuable to the students it is serving because students enrolling there have less to gain,” he said. “This shows up very strongly in the state of California.”
Post-ban, Bleemer also found fewer Black and Hispanic students earning degrees and between 3% and 4% fewer high-earning Black and Hispanic earners in the labor market.
Are race-neutral alternatives successful?
States with bans have tried a variety of strategies, pouring hundred of millions of dollars into the efforts, but none have offset the enrollment decline among students of color, according to briefs filed by the UC System and the University of Michigan. Both schools argued that achieving racial diversity was virtually impossible without affirmative action.
Both California and Texas have adopted policies guaranteeing a certain number of flagship slots for every high school in the state. Students have to rank in the top 9% or 10% of their high school class to gain admittance.
Bleemer’s research found these policies have opened access to middle-income students from disadvantaged neighborhoods who tended to be white or Asian, not Black or Hispanic.
How will UW-Madison maintain student diversity?
UW-Madison formed a working group discussing scenarios based on how broad or narrow the ruling may be, meeting minutes show. The University Committee, a group of professors who regularly meet with administrators, convened behind closed doors earlier this month to discuss “legal matters” related to the court cases.
But UW-Madison isn’t publicly saying much ahead of the ruling and declined an interview request.
UW-Madison is closely monitoring the case, but university spokesperson John Lucas said it would be premature to speculate on if or how policies may change. He said diversity of all kinds, including racial diversity, strengthens universities and prepares students for jobs in which they are expected to work with people from a broad variety of backgrounds and perspectives.