Underrepresented Minority Applications Up Almost 20% at Michigan

Applications from black, Latino, and Native American students are up nearly 20 percent at the University of Michigan, where state voters passed a ban on affirmative action this fall. "The increase," reports the Michigan Daily, "goes against what many were bracing for: a drop in minority applications due to worry that the ban could paint the University as an unwelcoming place for minority students." But the increase and the ban might also be related; the university can give race-based preferences to applicants until the ban goes into effect December 23. According to the Daily, about 73 percent of underrepresented minority applicants--but only 59 percent of white and Asian applicants--considered this year have been accepted so far.