(NewsNation) — Though affirmative action is no longer the law of the land, there are ways colleges and universities across the country can promote diversity through alternative means.
In a 6-3 decision released Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended the ability of colleges and universities to consider race in their admissions processes.
Denise Smith — a senior fellow at The Century Foundation — called Thursday’s ruling a “blow for diversity in higher education.” However, she argued there are still ways for colleges and universities to promote diversity among the students they enroll.
Although public colleges and universities in Georgia ended the consideration of race in admissions years ago, Georgia State University (GSU) has found remarkable success in recruiting and graduating African American students. Smith says that’s due to the school’s recruitment and retention programs.
One strategy Smith acknowledged was GSU’s “open enrollment” admissions process, which gives students from all backgrounds more flexibility in terms of how and when they go to school.
Instead of capping off admissions before the end of the calendar year, GSU accepts applications year-round, allowing potential students to enroll in either the spring or fall semesters.
“It makes it flexible and gives people opportunities to be able to come in and get an education instead of a traditional format,” Smith said.
The most recent statistics available show the university’s student enrollment is 41% African American, 24% white, 15% Asian, 13% Hispanic, and 6% multiracial.
GSU is also strategic in how it recruits students to enroll, Smith said.
“Their recruitment is really focused on the regional area and being able to identify students that are in predominantly maybe Black zip codes that recruiters in some institutions may not necessarily want to go to,” she said.
During the 2016-2017 school year, GSU ranked first in the nation among not-for-profit universities in awarding Bachelor’s Degrees to African Americans. It has also retained a high ranking since then, nabbing the second spot for the college that bestowed the most Bachelor’s Degrees in biological and biomedical sciences to African Americans during the 2020-2021 school year.
This diversity has come alongside an improvement in graduation rates. The university was able to boost its graduation rates from 41% in 2006 to 53% in 2017. Minority and low-income students at the school now graduate at around the same rate as the overall study body or above.
To help keep students enrolled, the school used more innovative strategies to remove barriers that stood in front of current students. They have a dedicated student success program tracking data on students from admission through graduation to figure out how to help them get across the finish line.
When the university found out that they were losing students who didn’t complete their vaccination records prior to matriculation, they brought a mobile health unit to student orientation so students could get any vaccines they were missing.
GSU has also analyzed the numbers and found that some students were dropping out because they had outstanding balances and weren’t able to continue. They started using micro-grants to support students who were behind on their balances which helped them continue their education and graduate.
During the 2018 to 2019 academic year, Pell-eligible students represented 58% of GSU’s undergraduate student population, and they graduated at the same rate as non-Pell students.
In order to replicate similar success with diversity at other schools, Smith argued that resources are key to promoting diversity in higher education.
“You have institutions that have already been promoting diversity, like Historically Black Colleges and Universities, right?” she said. “They’ve always welcomed a diverse group of students from all backgrounds to be able to get an education. But sadly they haven’t received the resources to be able to expand their campuses.”
