Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/11-345_l5gm.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

2 

FISHER v. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN 

Opinion of the Court 

scrutiny,  its  decision  affirming  the  District  Court’s  grant 
of  summary  judgment  to  the  University  was  incorrect.
That  decision  is  vacated,  and  the  case  is  remanded  for 
further proceedings. 

I 

A 

Located in Austin, Texas, on the most renowned campus
of the Texas state university system, the University is one 
of  the  leading  institutions  of  higher  education  in  the  Na-
tion.  Admission is prized and competitive.  In 2008, when 
petitioner  sought  admission  to  the  University’s  entering
class,  she  was  1  of  29,501  applicants.    From  this  group 
12,843  were  admitted,  and  6,715  accepted  and  enrolled.
Petitioner was denied admission. 

In  recent  years  the  University  has  used  three  different
programs  to evaluate candidates  for admission.  The first 
is  the  program  it  used  for  some  years  before  1997,  when 
the  University  considered  two  factors:  a  numerical  score 
reflecting an applicant’s test scores and academic perform-
ance  in  high  school  (Academic  Index  or  AI),  and  the 
applicant’s  race.  In 1996, this system was held unconsti-
tutional  by  the  United  States  Court  of  Appeals  for  the 
Fifth  Circuit.    It  ruled  the  University’s  consideration  of
race  violated  the  Equal  Protection  Clause  because  it  did 
not further any compelling government interest.  Hopwood 
v. Texas, 78 F. 3d 932, 955 (1996).

The  second  program  was  adopted  to  comply  with  the 
Hopwood  decision.  The  University  stopped  considering 
race in admissions and substituted instead a new holistic 
metric  of  a  candidate’s  potential  contribution  to  the  Uni-
versity,  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with  the  Academic  In-
dex.  This “Personal Achievement Index” (PAI) measures a
student’s  leadership  and  work  experience,  awards,  extra-
curricular activities, community service, and other special
circumstances  that  give  insight  into  a  student’s  back-