New York ends STEM race-based policy amid anti-Asian claims

The New York Department of Education has reportedly eliminated race-based admissions criteria for a major STEM enrichment program following a federal lawsuit by Asian parents who alleged discrimination against their children.

The controversy centers on the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), which enrolls 11,000 middle and high school students each year across 56 colleges and medical schools throughout the state. Established in 1985 to increase STEM participation among underrepresented groups, the program had different admission standards based on race: Black, Hispanic and Native American applicants faced no income restrictions, while Asian and white students needed to demonstrate economic hardship.

Legal advocates first filed the suit in January 2024, contending the system created an unfair racial bias where economically struggling students who “barely top the poverty line” remained “categorically ineligible” solely due to their ethnicity. The case was brought by multiple organizations including the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York alongside parent groups and individual plaintiff Yiatin Chu, whose seventh-grade daughter was reportedly denied access to NYU’s summer 2024 program for being Asian.

Now, State Assistant Commissioner Anael Alston has instructed administrators to “determine student eligibility without regard to historically underrepresented minority status, race or ethnicity” and rely on “economic-based eligibility criteria only,” according to a July 8 memo seen by the New York Post. The move follows a federal judge’s November 2024 ruling allowing the discrimination suit to advance after rejecting the state’s dismissal motion.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the new language. “The state of New York has raised the white flag of surrender in our lawsuit, but not high enough,” William Jacobson of EqualProtect.org told the Post, arguing that terms like “may” and “encouraged” still permit discriminatory practices.

The policy reversal reflects the broader impact of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down college affirmative action programs. In their suit, Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Erin Wilcox argued that “race-based decision-making violates the Constitution’s equal protection guarantee” and has been repeatedly rejected by the Supreme Court. The case demonstrates growing legal challenges to racial preferences in education, with Asian American advocacy groups increasingly leading such efforts nationwide.

Despite their move, Alston reportedly vowed to “continue to vigorously defend” the program’s mission in court.