Most in new survey say colleges should be allowed to consider race in admissions 

Most respondents in a new poll said colleges should be allowed to consider race in admissions decisions as the Supreme Court rules on affirmative action. 

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 63 percent said the Supreme Court should not prevent colleges from considering race or ethnicity in admissions.

While a majority of respondents said colleges should be allowed to consider race or ethnicity, 68 percent also said it should not play a significant role in admissions. 

Instead, respondents were more likely to say grades and scores on standardized exams are more important factors in college admissions. More than 6 in 10 of those surveyed — 62 percent — said they think high school grades should be very important, while 30 percent said they should be somewhat important. Almost half said standardized test scores should be important when considering college admissions.  

The survey also found 13 percent said race or ethnicity should play a very or extremely important role in the admissions process, while 18 percent said it should be somewhat important. Pollsters found Black and Hispanic adults were more likely to say race and ethnicity should be at least an important role.  

And when asked about the role of gender in admissions, 9 percent said considering it is very important, 14 percent said it is somewhat important and 77 percent said it is not.  

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on lawsuits that have challenged admissions systems at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. With a conservative majority on the bench, using race in admissions could be scaled back.  

The new poll was conducted among 1,680 adults from May 11-15 and has a margin of sampling error of 3.4 percentage points.