Majority of US Citizens Back Supreme Court's Ending of Race-Based College Admissions

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A majority of people in the United States agree with the US Supreme Court's decision to end race-based college admissions, while its decisions on student loan forgiveness and free speech produced more divided public opinions, an Ipsos/ABC News poll said.

Just over half of respondents, 52%, said they approve of the Supreme Court’s decision to end the use of race as a factor in college admissions, the poll, released Sunday, said. Approximately one-third of respondents said they disagree with the ruling, while another 16% said they were unsure.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges in the United States could not use an applicant's race alone as a factor in their admissions process, effectively ending race-based affirmative action.

The court’s decision to block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan was met with less support, although a plurality of respondents, 45%, still backed the ruling, the poll said. Forty percent of respondents disapproved of the decision and 14% did not have an opinion, the poll said.

In addition, the Supreme Court struck down a procedural challenge to the Biden administration’s plan, which would forgive $10,000-$20,000 in student debt for eligible borrowers, and ruled that it did not have the authority to enact the plan under the legislation they cited.

Public opinion is further divided on the Supreme Court’s decision last week to allow businesses to deny expressive goods or services based on rights granted by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, enabling businesses to decline wedding products for same-sex couples on grounds of moral conscience.

Forty-three percent of respondents said they agree with the ruling, while 42% said they disagree, the poll said.

The ruling was based on a case involving a graphic designer in Colorado who sought clarity on whether the state’s anti-discrimination laws would force her to develop wedding websites for same-sex couples, even though she personally disagrees with such marriages.

The poll surveyed a sample of 937 adults between June 30 and July 1. The poll’s margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.6 percentage points with a confidence level of 95%.