THE IMPACT OF THE CALIFORNIA CIVIL-RIGHTS INITIATIVE (CCRI) ON UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CALIFORNIA ECONOMY

Using data from the University of California and results from previous ly published research on the returns to higher education, this article presents a preliminary evaluation of the impact of ending affirmative action in admissions at a large, publicly funded university. At the u ndergraduate level, eliminating race as a factor in the admissions pro cess will redistribute African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Nativ e Americans away from the most competitive campuses (UC-Berkeley, UCLA , UC-San Diego) towards the less competitive campuses in the Californi a State University system. This redistribution will lower the returns to schooling for those affected groups and could have a negative impac t on the educational environment for all students. Affirmative action will, in the short run, reduce the number of African American, Mexican American, and Native American students admitted and, in the long run, will have an adverse effect on the delivery of legal and health care services to those racial and ethnic groups.