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### OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY



|**U.S. Department of Justice***Civil Rights Division* | **U.S. Department of
          Education***Office for Civil Rights*
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|                                                     |                                                      | More ResourcesDear Colleague Letter

     download filesPDF (136K)Guidance
      ESE 
     download filesPDF (290K)Guidance
      PSE
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|Dear Colleague Letter

     download filesPDF (136K) |                                                      |                                                                                                                                                                
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|                                                     | Dear Colleague Letter

     download filesPDF (136K) |                                                                                                                                                                
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|Guidance
      ESE 
     download filesPDF (290K)    |                                                      |                                                                                                                                                                
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|                                                     | Guidance
      ESE 
     download filesPDF (290K)    |                                                                                                                                                                
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|Guidance
      PSE
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|                                                     | Guidance
      PSE
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December 2,  2011

Dear Colleague:

Today, the United States Department of Education (ED) and the United States
  Department of Justice (DOJ) are jointly issuing guidance that explains how
  educational institutions can lawfully pursue voluntary policies to achieve
  diversity or avoid racial isolation within the framework of Titles IV and VI
  of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
  Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and current case law.  The guidance is
  presented in two documents, one for elementary and secondary schools and the
  other for postsecondary institutions.  This guidance replaces August 2008 letters
  titled “The Use of Race in Assigning Students to Elementary and Secondary Schools”
  and “The Use of Race in Postsecondary Student Admissions” issued by ED’s Office
  for Civil Rights (OCR).  Concurrent with the issuance of this guidance, the
August 2008 letters are withdrawn.

The new guidance documents review three key Supreme Court rulings on the use
  of race by educational institutions, and provide examples of options that schools
  and postsecondary institutions may wish to consider in structuring programs
  that lawfully further diversity or reduce racial isolation.  Both guidance
  documents provide examples of different educational contexts within which institutions
  may permissibly consider race to pursue their compelling objectives.  For
  example, the elementary and secondary guidance discusses school districts’
  options in areas such as student assignment, student transfers, school siting,
  feeder patterns, and school zoning.  Similarly, the postsecondary guidance
  provides examples of how colleges and universities can further diversity
  in contexts including admissions, pipeline programs, recruitment and outreach,
  and mentoring, tutoring, retention, and support programs.

OCR and DOJ are available to provide technical assistance, and welcome questions
  about the application of this guidance to educational institutions. To submit
  questions or receive technical assistance, please contact the OCR regional office
  for your state or territory at http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/OCR/contactus.cfm.   To
  contact DOJ for assistance, please contact the Educational Opportunities Section
  at (202) 514-4092, (877) 292-3804, or education@usdoj.gov.

|Sincerely, 
      
      */S/*                                                                          |  | */S/*                                                                                                              
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |  | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Russlynn Ali
      Assistant Secretary
      Office for Civil Rights
      U.S. Department of Education |  | Thomas E. Perez  
      Assistant Attorney General  
      Civil Rights Division  
      U.S. Department of Justice

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