Colleges and universities in Georgia won’t have to change their admission policies under today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme court. The court was considering whether the University of Texas at Austin could consider race as a factor in its admissions policy.

The justices today sent the case back to a federal appeals court, asking the lower court to give the case more scrutiny. The U.S. Supreme Court said a court may approve the use of race as a factor in admissions -- but only after it concludes that "no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity."

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation began the America Healing initiative five years ago to confront the conscious and unconscious bias that affects children and families of all races.

Spokeswoman Dr. Gail C. Christopher says the ruling is important to allow colleges to work toward a more diverse student body. “I think in some ways we are still in the experimental stage as to how we address the legacy of inequity. And people are coming up with creative approaches." She is pleased with the Supreme Court ruling. " It can be interpreted as a victory in that we didn’t shut down that creativity. And I think we’ll continue to see more creative efforts on the part of colleges.”

Race or ethnicity is not a determining factor in admissions at the 31 public colleges and universities in Georgia. Mercer University does not consider race as a factor in admissions. Emory University does consider race, along with everything else about a student.

Tags: U.S. Supreme Court, race in college admissions, affirmative action