ABSTRACT
This Supreme Court case refuelled the debate in the US about whether universities were operating with ‘quota’ systems in their admissions procedures (i.e. the reserving of places for particular social groups, and which is illegal). For many, such cases are seen as indicative of the way that standards have been allowed to drop in the interests of producing a more diverse student population. This is a double-edged argument, for while the fall in standards is lamented, in the process very able students are being denied places, thus a double whammy of injustice.
