Rasmussen: 55% Oppose Affirmative Action Policies for College Admissions as SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Case

As the SCOTUS agreed to hear the case of colleges using affirmative action as part of college admissions, a recent Rasmussen poll shows that 55% of Americans oppose using such policies.Just a mere 24% are in favor of applying preferential treatment and affirmative action to college admissions.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 24% of Likely U.S. Voters favor applying affirmative action policies to college admissions. Fifty-five percent (55%) oppose the use of such policies to determine who is admitted to colleges and universities. Twenty-one percent (21%) are undecided.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Just last week the SCOTUS agreed to hear a case dealing with affirmative action and college admission.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear the controversial case Fisher v. University of Texas. The case comes from Abigail Fisher, a white college student, who sued the University of Texas after she was denied admission.

The current standard of affirmative action usage in college admissions comes from the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, discussed by the Ohio State Law Journal, which allows continued use of affirmative action as long as race is not a deciding factor and is only one of many factors in an applicant’s admission. Also noteworthy in the Grutter decision was the inclusion of a prediction that, while affirmative action was still necessary in 2003, it might no longer be valid in 25 years or so.

I believe that the Court should take this opportunity to hasten the end of affirmative action in college admissions and not wait an additional 16 years to let it expire.