Fair and Facially Neutral Higher Educational Admissions Through Disparate Impact Analysis

Abstract

Using Title VII disparate impact jurisprudence as a point of departure, this article argues that higher education admissions policies should be subjected to disparate impact scrutiny, and proposes a feasible and effective judicial standard specifically conceived for this context. This article proposes both remedial and instrumental justifications for applying disparate impact scrutiny to admissions policies. The result of applying disparate impact analysis will be admissions policies that produce diverse student bodies while remaining facially neutral with regard to race.