In Pennsylvania, education advocates contended affirmative action has been a critical tool in promoting equity and addressing historical disadvantages faced by marginalized communities.

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority largely overturned decades of precedent which had prompted colleges and universities to consider a prospective student's race in trying to maintain diverse campuses.

Sen. Art Haywood, D-Montgomery County, said the ruling is a major setback for affirmative action, which has been used in Pennsylvania colleges and universities to increase the number of students of color on their campuses.

"I was extremely disappointed to see that the Supreme Court would end affirmative action," Haywood emphasized. "Which is a very narrow response to 200 years of enslavement, 100 years of segregation and continuous systemic discrimination, very narrow remedy."

Haywood noted it is going to be harder for students of color to be accepted at selective colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, but he is encouraging them to continue to apply anyway. In the meantime, opponents argued it is unfair to give preferential treatment to some students based on their race or ethnicity.

Donald Guy Generals, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, said he is also disappointed in the Supreme Court's ruling, as affirmative action policies at colleges and universities in Pennsylvania have played a vital role in promoting equity and diversity in higher education.

"In terms of our students, many of them do transfer as we establish advisement and articulations with other four-year institutions," Generals explained. "We want to make sure that we send them to places that are going to be accepting of them that have a diverse environment, that believe in the issues of diversity and equity and inclusion."

Generals pointed out the expectation with this Supreme Court is the ruling may eventually seep over into employment and other areas of society.

Generals stressed affirmative action has not provided minority students with opportunities they do not deserve, as it was only one factor in the admission process. He noted other factors could also be considered for admission into Pennsylvania schools such as a student's experience in overcoming challenges such as adversity. He argued the affordability of colleges could also be a factor.

"I think colleges and universities need to find ways to open the doors through lowering the cost of tuition," Generals asserted. "I think that begins to get at issues of equity, and issues of opportunity and access for students."

Generals said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to block the student debt relief plan by the Biden administration does not affect their students as much, because community colleges are in the business of keeping the cost of education down. He added Community College of Philadelphia has not raised tuition in seven years.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

The Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida are filing lawsuits against the deactivation orders issued by State University System Chancellor Raymond Rodrigues and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The groups claim the looming orders come at a time when the conflict in the contested territories of Israel and Palestine are a matter of vital public discourse, depriving them of essential resources.

Hina Shamsi, director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, is part of the legal team representing the students.

"Our client has made a very brave decision to challenge state officials' attempt to restrict student speech, in a case that they and we hope sends a strong message that censorship in our schools is unconsitutional," said Shamsi.

The state's deactivation was based on the groups' alleged connection to a toolkit supporting Hamas' attack on Israel, which violates a Florida law against providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations. However, neither group has a formal relationship with the National Students for Justice in Palestine, which the Chancellor later acknoledged.

According to Shamsi, the groups recognize that colleges are contending with how to manage increased tensions and threats on their campuses while keeping students safe, but pointed out that it doesn't mean they have to abandon students' rights to do so.

"We take the weight and complexities of those issues seriously," she added, "but it is precisely in times of heightened crisis that university leaders must remain steadfast in their commitment to free speech, to open debate and peaceful dissent on campus."

While the Chancellor Rodrigues says they are reviewing legal and deactivation options, a spokesman for the governor's office said it was "reprehensible to see some university administrators, after the fact, creating bureaucratic roadblocks."



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Illinois high school seniors have new hurdles to overcome to get to college. High school students are waiting several extra weeks to get their hands on a newly designed Free Application for Student Aid. You might know it better as FAFSA.

The delay in the current process puts students behind when applying for financial aid.

Tabitha Jackson, senior seminar instructor for CICS Longwood High School, works with seniors at the charter school in Chicago. She said FAFSA has always been an Achilles heel, but the delay -- combined with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to repeal affirmative action -- has further exacerbated the process.

"It's so frustrating and it's so hurtful to let a student know, 'Because of who I am, I may not have some additional support or some additional support benefits of being able to go to this school,'" she said. "My question is to my students: 'If affirmative action stops at this level, what's next?'"

Jackson added a lot of students don't want debt, and financial aid helps determine which college they can afford. The 2024-25 FAFSA form is expected to be available by the end of 2023.

The cumbersome conditions coincide with a downward trend for high school seniors who are participating in career and college aid counseling.

Doug Keller, partnership lead with San Francisco-based YouthTruth, said its Class of 2022 Survey underscores troubling findings from respondents.

"We found that there's significant declines among particular student groups and their participating in counseling about how to pay for college -- specifically, among Hispanic or Latinx students, multi-racial and multi-ethnic students and boys," he explained.

Keller said the largest gap is among American Indian, Alaskan and other Indigenous students, with a 14% gap between those who want to go to college and those who expect to attend.


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A program giving high school students a taste of college and college credits along the way is celebrating its 33rd year of operation in Washington state.

The Running Start program offers 11th and 12th graders an opportunity to take college courses at the state's 34 community and technical colleges and three of its universities.

Julie Garver, director of policy and academic affairs for the Washington State Council of Presidents, which represents universities, said the program eases the transition to college-level learning.

"By being able to explore those things within high school, which is a safer environment or within those contexts, then students are able not only to get the confidence but to get those skills," Garver outlined. "They are not surprised and learning that transition while they're also taking college courses when they're at one of our campuses."

More than 27,000 high school students were enrolled in Running Start at community and technical colleges in the past academic year.

Jamie Traugott, director of dual credit and strategic enrollment initiatives for the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, said students in the program report feeling better prepared for the next step in their academic careers.

"The confidence of being able to complete a college-level class, but then really to be like, 'OK, I did this. What else can I get involved with?'" Traugott noted. "Or, 'Maybe, I thought I would go to a community technical college, but I never considered that I could also transfer to a four-year institution.'"

Traugott added the program has been helpful for the students who are able to access it but there is still more work to do to close equity gaps in enrollment.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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