The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, a case that concerns a 2006 Michigan voter initiative banning racial preferences in public education, government contracting and public employment, The New York Times reported. Last November, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati ruled that the Michigan initiative violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution. In response, activist groups favoring affirmative action sued to block the part of the legislation concerning public higher education. Roughly 58 percent of voters approved the initiative in 2006, The Times reported. The Michigan case comes before the Supreme Court as justices wrap up deliberation on Fisher v. University of Texas, which also concerns affirmative action.
A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Re-search showed that high-achieving, low-income students are much less likely to apply to the nation's most selective colleges, The Harvard Crimson reported. The report, authored by Stanford University economics professor Caroline Hoxby and Harvard University public policy professor Christopher Avery, defined low-income, high-achieving students as those in the bottom quartile of the national income distribution who earned a minimum grade point average of A- and scored at or above the 90th percentile on the ACT or SAT. The report showed that only 34 percent of these students matriculated to one of the nation's most selective universities. The study found that high-achieving, high-income students were considerably more likely to apply to top colleges in the U.S.
Statistics released by the College and University Association for Human Resources indicated that the mean base salary for professionals in higher education increased by 2 percent over the last year, slightly less than the 2.1 percent inflation rate, Inside Higher Ed reported. The report surveyed non-faculty professionals who work in various departments, including athletics, human resources and libraries. Athletic salaries saw a 2.5 percent increase, the biggest of any category, according to the report. Base salary increases at private institutions were also unequivocally greater than those in base salaries at public institutions.
