Press Releases

New Manual Gives Practical and Useful Guidance on Diversity Issues to Higher Education Officials

06/02/05

Since the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the 2003 University of Michigan cases about race-conscious practices, colleges and universities have refocused their attention on diversity-related programs. The Court's rulings did not answer all of the questions colleges and universities have. In fact, higher education officials continue to wrestle with how to achieve their diversity-related educational goals to meet federal legal requirements.

Now, three expert Holland & Knight attorneys, working with the College Board's groundbreaking Access and Diversity Collaborative on Enrollment Management and the Law, have crafted a manual of practical and useful guidance. Federal Law and Financial Aid: A Framework for Evaluating Diversity-Related Programs by Arthur L. Coleman, Scott R. Palmer, and Femi S. Richards will help higher education officials evaluate their race- and ethnicity-conscious financial aid and scholarship policies and work toward policies that are educationally and legally sound.

The manual presents key questions and important information based on federal legal principles so that colleges can review their specific policies. It leads campus leaders through the process of institutional self-assessment and discusses in detail the key issues and analyses necessary to understand how to structure financial aid and scholarship policies that best achieve their diversity-related goals and minimize legal risk.

Based on hundreds of conversations with enrollment management, financial aid, legal and policy experts across the country and knowledge of the governing laws and court decisions, the framework explores the unresolved issues remaining in the wake of the University of Michigan decisions. This manual grew out of meetings convened by College Board leaders and reflects the desire by the College Board to meet the needs of the higher education community. The work was supported by 34 sponsoring institutions and educational systems, 13 other associations, the Goldman Sachs Foundation, and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

Shirley A. Ort, Associate Provost and Director of Scholarships and Student Aid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said, "This publication and the seminars conducted by the Access and Diversity Collaborative have brought clarity and focus to the complex legal issues regarding diversity. I know my colleagues in the financial aid profession will find Federal Law and Financial Aid an extremely useful guidebook to help them think through their own policies and practices."

Federal Law and Financial Aid can be downloaded without charge as a PDF on the Diversity Collaborative website. Printed copies are available for purchase (item #050371417 at $15.00 per copy; $5.00 per copy for orders of 50 or more) from the College Board. Credit card orders are accepted at 800 323-7155. Single book credit card orders may be placed at the College Board Store www.collegeboard.com. Purchase orders and credit card orders may be faxed to 888 321-7183. All orders with payment may be sent to: College Board Publications, P.O. Box 869010, Plano, TX 75074. Please add $4.00 for postage and handling for the purchase of one copy; add 10 percent of your order total for a purchase of 50 copies. No other discounts apply.

For more information, contact the College Board Public Affairs office at 212 713-8052.