Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College - No. 20–1199 - syllabus

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Jiven

Supreme Court syllabus for Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, addressing whether race-based admissions systems at Harvard College and UNC violate the Equal Protection Clause. The syllabus summarizes each school’s selection process, including the use of numerical scoring categories and consideration of applicants’ race at multiple stages. It explains SFFA’s legal standing and organizational standing analysis under Hunt. The Court holds that Harvard’s and UNC’s programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages237

Reading Time9 h 57 min

AccessFree to download

Syllabus Notice

Purpose and scope of the syllabus

Case Overview

Parties and the admissions question

Harvard Admissions Process

Scoring, regional review, and the “lop” stage

UNC Admissions Process

Reader ratings and committee group review

Procedural History and Claims

SFFA lawsuits and lower court rulings

Supreme Court Holding

Violation of the Equal Protection Clause

Standing Analysis

Organizational standing under Hunt

(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2022 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT No. 20–1199. Argued October 31, 2022—Decided June 29, 2023* Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (UNC) are two of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. Every year, tens of thousands of students apply to each school; many fewer are admitted. Both Harvard and UNC employ a highly selective admissions process to make their decisions. Admission to each school can depend on a student’s grades, recommendation letters, or extracurricular involvement. It can also depend on their race. The question presented is whether the admissions systems used by Harvard College and UNC are lawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. At Harvard, each application for admission is initially screened by a“first reader,” who assigns a numerical score in each of six categories: academic, extracurricular, athletic, school support, personal, and overall. For the “overall” category—a composite of the five other ratings—a first reader can and does consider the applicant’s race. Harvard’sadmissions subcommittees then review all applications from a particular geographic area. These regional subcommittees make recommendations to the full admissions committee, and they take an applicant’s race into account. When the 40-member full admissions committee begins its deliberations, it discusses the relative breakdown of applicants by race. The goal of the process, according to Harvard’s director of admissions, is ensuring there is no “dramatic drop-off” in minority admissions from the prior class. An applicant receiving a majority of * Together with No. 21–707, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina et al., on certiorari before judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 2 STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE Syllabus the full committee’s votes is tentatively accepted for admission. At the end of this process, the racial composition of the tentative applicant pool is disclosed to the committee. The last stage of Harvard’s admissions process, called the “lop,” winnows the list of tentatively admitted students to arrive at the final class. Applicants that Harvard considers cutting at this stage are placed on the “lop list,” which contains only four pieces of information: legacy status, recruited athlete status, financial aid eligibility, and race. In the Harvard admissions process,“race is a determinative tip for” a significant percentage “of all admitted African American and Hispanic applicants.” UNC has a similar admissions process. Every application is reviewed first by an admissions office reader, who assigns a numerical rating to each of several categories. Readers are required to consider the applicant’s race as a factor in their review. Readers then make a written recommendation on each assigned application, and they may provide an applicant a substantial “plus” depending on the applicant’s race. At this stage, most recommendations are provisionally final. A committee of experienced staff members then conducts a “school group review” of every initial decision made by a reader and either approves or rejects the recommendation. In making those decisions, the committee may consider the applicant’s race. Petitioner, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), is a nonprofit organizatio

FAQs

What legal question does the case syllabus focus on?

Whether the admissions systems used by Harvard College and UNC are lawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

How does Harvard’s admissions process incorporate race, according to the syllabus?

Race can be considered by a first reader in the “overall” composite rating and by admissions subcommittees reviewing applicants by geographic area, including discussion during committee deliberations and on the “lop” list.

What is the Court’s overall holding on Harvard and UNC’s admissions programs?

The Court holds that Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Jiven