Page:Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 579 U.S. (2016) (slip opinion).pdf/4



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 NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

The Court is asked once again to consider whether the race-conscious admissions program at the University of Texas is lawful under the Equal Protection Clause.

The University of Texas at Austin (or University) relies upon a complex system of admissions that has undergone significant evolution over the past two decades. Until 1996, the University made its admissions decisions pri­marily based on a measure called “Academic Index” (or AI), which it calculated by combining an applicant’s SAT score and academic performance in high school. In assessing applicants, preference was given to racial minorities.

In 1996, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit inval­idated this admissions system, holding that any considera­tion of race in college admissions violates the Equal Pro­tection Clause. See Hopwood v. Texas, 78 F. 3d 932, 934–935, 948. One year later the University adopted a new admissions policy. Instead of considering race, the University began