Supreme Court will hear two cases in October on college race-based admissions policies

The Supreme Court Wednesday scheduled arguments for Harvard and the University of North Carolina's race-based admissions cases to take place in the fall. 

Justices will hear on Oct. 31 oral arguments in each case. Each case will have one hour allotted for Justices to ask both sides questions. 

Challengers of Harvard's admissions policy argue it discriminates against Asian-American applicants, who are significantly less likely to be admitted than similarly qualified white, black and Hispanic applicants.

In the second case, challengers argue that Carolina, a public institution, violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by considering race in it admissions process. 

Each of the universities has defended its respective admissions policy by claiming it is essential to creating a diverse student body. 

Petitioners in each case are asking the court to overrule precedent established in the 2003 decision Grutter v. Bollinger, which upheld University of Michigan factoring race into its admissions process. 

The court's newest Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, has promised to recuse herself from the Harvard case due to her previous position on the Ivy League college's Board of Overseer's.

The court has separated the two cases despite their similarities, which allows Jackson to participate in the UNC challenge.