Some issues are perfect for debating. There are valid聽points on each side of the argument, the subject matter is of huge importance and there are passionate advocates in both corners.听

Affirmative action in university admissions is one of those issues. Should universities be allowed to聽consider race and ethnicity when allocating places to students? Or is that unfair? Not meritocratic?

It's a subject I've written about a couple of times. First,聽back in January 2013聽as US higher education awaited a Supreme Court verdict on Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin 鈥� a landmark case that could have spelled the end for affirmative action. It didn鈥檛 鈥� the verdict, which many called a 鈥渇udge鈥�, failed to rule either way, instead聽referring the case back to a lower court.听

Fast forward to today, and the Supreme Court is聽. Fisher v UT is still at the centre of ongoing discussions, and the聽judges are having their say once again. You can read what they had to say last week聽聽(it could be months before a verdict is reached).听

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What interests me is how universities might look to ensure diversity on campus if affirmative action is deemed unacceptable. It is something I looked at in聽a short analysis piece for聽探花视频聽a couple of years ago.听

Joseph Hotz, professor of economics at Duke University, co-authored a paper that compared undergraduate graduation rates for Hispanics, blacks and Native Americans in California before and after the state prohibited the use of affirmative action in public education admissions in 1996.

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It makes for interesting reading. While graduation rates among these minorities did increase after affirmative action was banned, overall enrolment rates in many colleges fell. A larger proportion of a smaller number of minorities were graduating.听

The 2006 freshman year at the University of California, Los Angeles, comprised little over 2聽per cent African American students, for example.

California tried a number of approaches to maintain campus diversity, Hotz told me. 鈥淭hey set up counselling programmes for getting students better information about what [college is] like, and emphasising the importance of getting through the first year. It鈥檚 a different world, and a shock to the system 鈥� especially for minorities, who often haven鈥檛 been in this situation before.鈥�

When last we spoke, it was still too early to evaluate how effective these programmes have been.

However, another scholar I spoke to 鈥� Richard Cherwitz 鈥� is encouraged by the potential for alternative outreach programmes (and as a professor聽in the departments of communication studies and rhetoric and writing at UT Austin, he is well placed to comment).

鈥淢y personal opinion is that eventually we will see the end to affirmative action,鈥� he聽told me when I was putting the article together.

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鈥淓ven most advocates of it recognise that. It should be used as a mechanism until it is no longer needed, but people will continue to debate when that point might be.鈥�

Cherwitz founded, and is now director of, the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium at the university. Known as IE, the initiative comprises a diverse range of programmes that encourage students of all ages to聽think about the type of education that would be right for them.

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The It Could Be U project, for example, offered intensive mentoring and 鈥渃ollege readiness services鈥� to secondary school pupils throughout Austin.

He realised early on聽that IE was reaching students from communities traditionally under-represented at universities 鈥� including those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

鈥淎fter around 4,000 students had gone through our courses, we noticed that the demographics were interesting. At that point, about 9聽per cent of University of Texas graduate students were under-represented minorities, compared to 25聽per cent of IE participants,鈥� he says.

However, despite the successes, Cherwitz was wary of whether abolishing affirmative action in university admissions is the right thing to do.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that IE could replace affirmative action, but its philosophy gives us hope for expanding the number of under-represented, first-generation, economically disadvantaged students who go to college,鈥� he told me.

鈥淲hether we鈥檙e dealing with high school kids, middle school kids, graduates or undergraduates, by helping them to understand how to own and be accountable for their passion we do a lot of good things. One of those things is to increase diversity.鈥�

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chris.parr@tesglobal.com