For Immediate Release                             Contact: Tony Pals, [email protected]
June 25, 2013                                  office: (202) 238-3235     cell: (202) 288-9333

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25 – Felice J. Levine, executive director of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to send the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin affirmative action case back to the Fifth Circuit Court.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling, by upholding Grutter and affirming the state’s compelling interest in fostering the benefits of diversity in higher education, aligns with the overwhelming body of scientific research.

“Empirical research strongly shows that student body diversity leads to important educational benefits, and that race-neutral policies are, by themselves, insufficient for advancing diversity. The science presented in research amicus briefs in Fisher spoke to the limitations of race-neutral approaches alone.

“In the interest of our nation’s students and American society at large, we must pay special attention to what empirical research tells us about benefits of diversity in higher education and the positive impact of affirmative action admission policies.” 

“As higher education institutions move forward, rigorous social science research will continue to be critical to informing policies and developing practices that best foster student diversity and its educational benefits on college campuses.”  

Links to Resources on AERA’s Fisher Online Information Portal

• Two-page overview of AERA et al.’s amicus brief in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
• AERA et al.’s full amicus brief
• Links to research cited in AERA et al.’s amicus brief
• Special section of Educational Researcher (April 2013) devoted to the Fisher case
• Fisher briefs by other research organizations