Investigating the Impact of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision on College Admissions Decisions and Student Identity Disclosure

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of race in college and university admissions was unconstitutional and violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The decision, which applied to public and private institutions alike, signaled a major change in education equity policies, overturning over 40 years of precedent. Students of color must now weigh the personal importance of disclosing their racial identity against the potential risks of being penalized. And high school counselors must now advise students within an ambiguous legal context. At the same time, college admissions officers are still asked to evaluate applicants whose life experiences may have been significantly shaped by their racial identity, even as they are barred from directly considering it. Social psychologist Payton Small will use a mixed methods design – combining an experiment embedded in a survey, qualitative interviews and focus groups – to examine how students, guidance counselors, and admissions officers are responding to the evolving landscape of racially colorblind admissions following the Court’s decision. Small posits that, examined together, their actions may shed light on how race-neutral policy norms are translated, transmitted, and reproduced across institutional context, which may inform higher education policy design and offer guidance to practitioners.