There’s a ‘Cascade Effect’ from the Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ban, and It’s Hurting Black and Latino Students

As widely predicted, Black and Latino student enrollment is falling at elite institutions nationwide in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling restricting race-conscious admissions. Demographic changes are most obvious at top-ranked private universities, but key shifts are also taking place throughout the system, with serious repercussions for Black and Latino students. 

Researchers call the shifts a “cascade” effect. It works like this: First, underrepresented minority students who are not admitted to highly selective institutions instead attend state flagships or less selective institutions. Next, Black and Latino students who would otherwise have attended state flagships are displaced to regional, community, or for-profit colleges. These institutions tend to have fewer resources to support students, leading to outcomes like lower graduation rates and high student debt.