What the end of affirmative action means for CSU Pueblo, other colleges
News of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to ban affirmative action in college admissions rocked the nation last week, but the decision is not expected to affect college admissions in Pueblo.
On June 29, the court ruled that processes designed to increase admission of racial minorities at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were in violation of the 14th Amendment. Colorado State University Pueblo President Timothy Mottet and Pueblo Community College President Patty Erjavec released statements to their respective campus communities following the ruling.
Mottet said the Supreme Court decision is more likely to impact "highly selective" institutions and assured students that CSU Pueblo will continue to accept applications from students of all backgrounds at a high rate. Erjavec called the Supreme Court's ruling "more than disappointing" in her message to the school's campus community, while also acknowledging PCC's continued status as an "open access" institution.
CSU Pueblo, PCC have significantly higher acceptance rates than schools mentioned in Supreme Court cases
CSU Pueblo has a first-time student acceptance rate of 99%, according to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
The acceptance rate at PCC is even higher, as the college has an acceptance rate of 100%. Harvard's acceptance rate is among the most exclusive in the country. Only 4% of Harvard applicants are accepted. While it may not be as selective as Harvard, the UNC Chapel Hill campus still has an acceptance rate of 20%.
"(Selective) institutions have in the past used race as a criterion for admitting students... they've used race to make sure that even an Ivy League education is accessible to all people," Mottet said.
Pueblo higher ed institutions have vastly different admissions models
PCC's open access admissions process has no requirements for acceptance aside from requiring that the applicant be 17 years old or older.
Students may have to take an ACCUPLACER test or take prerequisite courses to attend certain classes, but test scores and experience are not factored into the admissions process at PCC. The CSU Pueblo admissions process for prospective freshmen evaluates them based on high school grades, class rank and test scores. Prospective CSU Pueblo students must be high school graduates with a minimum 2.0 GPA, according to the school's website.
While schools like Harvard and UNC have factored race into the admissions process, race has not played the same role in the CSU Pueblo admissions process. However, CSU Pueblo is currently reviewing its admissions process to ensure full compliance with the Supreme Court's decision.
"The decision that was made by the Supreme Court, it really impacts institutions who are highly selective and let in few students... if we had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of applicants, we'd have to develop a criteria to admit students," Mottet said. "When you are highly competitive, that is how you do it and the Supreme Court has made a decision that one of the criteria that has been used is no longer allowable."
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: CSU Pueblo, PCC respond to Supreme Court's affirmative action ruling
