Exploring the Future of College Admissions:

A National Research-Practice Partnership

About the Project

How to Participate

Ensuring equitable access to higher education is a critical aim of many colleges and universities. Among the challenges to realizing this goal is the 2023 US Supreme Court decision restricting the consideration of race in postsecondary admissions. The effect of this ruling on access to undergraduate education is, as yet, unknown and has been compounded by complications with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in 2024, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other external forces.

UERU is a partner in a national research-practice partnership, led by scholars at the Urban Institute, to explore new approaches to college admissions following the Supreme Court ruling. Our goals are to:

  • Understand who is applying to, admitted by, and enrolling at colleges and universities.
  • Learn about changes colleges and universities are making to their admissions policies and practices; and
  • Evaluate the potential impact of these changes on the demographic profile of future classes.

While it will be difficult to isolate the impact of the Supreme Court decision on admissions and enrollment, understanding the combined impact of the decision and FAFSA complications on the demographics of who applies to college is important.

UERU invites its members to participate in this important project in pursuit of the Boyer 2030 Commission’s imperative on ensuring equitable access to higher education. Participating universities will receive a report that benchmarks their data to the sample as a whole, and will have first access to convenings and other events supporting leaders in advancing equity.

Read more about the project in Inside Higher Ed

If you are interested in joining the project, or for more information, email Julia Michaels, Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships at UERU.

We recommend that UVPs (Undergraduate Vice Presidents/Provosts) remain as the main point of contact for their university but will coordinate with others on campus including those who lead admissions and/or enrollment management, and institutional research. Please note that only aggregate, institution-level data will be collected during the research component of this project.

Sign Up

Timeline

Data submission opens August 1, 2024, with submissions requested by December 31, 2024. Please contact us if you have any concerns with meeting this deadline.

Project Materials

Frequently Asked Questions

Data Security

A: This study has approval to collect and analyze these data, and we can share IRB approval upon request. Participating schools will be asked to provide aggregate institution-level data on their applicants, admits, and enrollees across several variables disaggregated by race and ethnicity. We are mindful of concerns you might have about providing this data, and we have designed the study to reduce risks on multiple dimensions. For example, given the nature of the aggregate data we have requested, it will be neither valid nor possible to use them to calculate the chance that a given group of students is admitted. Nor will the data capture or control the many nuances of the college admissions process (such as variations in admissions rates by major). Rather, the data will be used to paint a broader picture of the demographics of four-year college applicants, admits, and enrollees in 2024 relative to years prior to the SCOTUS decision. Most importantly, data collected from individual schools will not be shared or disclosed publicly and schools will have the option to decide whether they want their participation in the study disclosed. Only aggregate data will be shared in publications and conference presentations. 

A: Since we are not collecting any student-level data, only aggregate institution-level data, we do not anticipate a need to execute individual data-sharing agreements with each participating university. If your university requires an agreement, please contact us and we will work with you to accommodate the request.

 

Eligibility

A: The impact of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision is not limited to selective schools. This is evidenced, in part, by the “cascading effect” of fewer academically qualified racially minoritized students applying to highly selective schools in the University of California system and enrolling at less selective schools following California’s ban on affirmative action in the mid 1990’s. Understanding the effects of the ruling on a wide variety of schools is important for this research and all schools are invited to participate, regardless of selectivity. Additionally, the issues with the new FAFSA are also likely to impact the demographics of this year’s applicants across a wide range of schools. As a result, this data collection will be looking at the confluence of these two events on applicant and admits.

A: State-level bans offer a unique opportunity to compare applicant, admission, and enrollment trends at universities in those states compared to those that are experiencing a ban for the first time following the recent Supreme Court decision. Learning about how admissions policies and practices at institutions in states with prior bans is important because it helps us understand how race-neutral alternatives have been working to ensure equitable access. We encourage schools to participate even if they are located in a state with an existing ban.

Yes, please contact us and we will work with you to submit relevant data for the study. 

Yes! Please contact Julia Michaels at julia.michaels@colostate.edu

 

Addressing Concerns

A: We are purposeful about conducting this study in a research-practice partnership model, as such partnerships are anchored in a commitment to mutual benefit. Campus partners who participate will have access not only to the findings, but to resources and tools that support your mission-driven advancement of diversity in the new legal environment. Specific benefits include:

  • A summary report of your school’s data benchmarked to the aggregate data for all participating schools including regional, state, and peer comparisons.
  • Access to a community of researchers, national organizations, and funders that are actively exploring and studying innovative, equitable, and legal admissions practices and advancing equitable access at four-year colleges and universities.
  • Invitations to participate in a range of activities related to the project, such as webinars, virtual meetings, in-person conferences, and professional development opportunities.

Participants will have the option to decide whether they want their institution's name disclosed or to remain confidential. If you choose to keep your institution's participation confidential, your university will not be named in any public communication about the study. 

 

Partner Organizations

A: Core funding is provided by the Kresge Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. Additional funders
may be announced soon.

A: The partners for this project include:

  • The Urban Institutefounded in 1968, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and nonadvocacy research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. 
  • The Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education (USC CERPP). As an independent research center serving admissions and enrollment specialists, the USC CERPP is committed to fostering equity and expertise in educational access, admissions, and outcomes.
  • The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) empowers higher education professionals to leverage data, analytics, information, and evidence to make decisions and take actions that benefit students and institutions and improve higher education.
  • The Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU). This project aligns with UERU’s mission to achieve excellence and access in undergraduate education by sharing and developing expertise across member institutions and other higher education organizations. Ensuring equitable access is one of the imperatives outlined in the UERU-supported Boyer 2030 Commission report.

Partners