When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late June that the nation's colleges and universities could not take race into account in admissions practices, college admissions offices were not the only people left confused. High school students and school counselors were also plunged into uncertainty.

Later in the show, Dr. Aminta Breaux, President of Bowie State University, joins us to talk about affirmative action and college admissions.

But first, how are today's high school students thinking about college? The total number of students enrolled in postsecondary education in the U.S. dropped over the past decade. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that undergraduate enrollment was 15 percent lower in fall 2021 than in fall 2010. 42 percent of that decline occurred during the pandemic.

But among high school graduates, a majority are still enrolling in college or university, according to the 2021 data from Bureau of Labor Statistics.

We sit down with two people closely involved with young students considering their future join us.

Brian Stewart is a School Counselor and Department Chair at Catonsville High School in Baltimore County.

Marian Hoyt is a school counselor at Howard County’s newest public school, Guilford Park High School, which will open in two weeks in Jessup. Most recently Hoyt has been a school counselor at Bard High School Early College in Baltimore City. She is also on the board of the Maryland School Counselor Association, MSCA, where she is High School Vice President.

What are they hearing from their students, many of whom are considering options outside of the 4-year college path?

Plus, a conversation with Dr. Aminta Breaux, President of Bowie State University, Maryland's oldest HBCU.

In a nearly 300-page decision in late June, the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled affirmative action for colleges and universities across the country.The conservative supermajority on the court ruled public and private institutions of higher learning could not consider race as one of many factors in a student’s admission application.

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