From Stereotypes to Solid Ground: Reframing the Equal Protection Intermediate Scrutiny Standard and Its Application to Gender-Based College Admissions Policies‪.‬

INTRODUCTION In response to an increasingly female +student population on campuses across the country, many undergraduate admissions committees at both public and private institutions now give preference to male applicants. (1) Despite the apparent conflict between such policies and the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection, (2) few have generated full-blown legal challenges. (3) Aside from the difficulties associated with proving gender-based discrimination, perhaps one reason for the absence of equal-protection claims is the somewhat murky state of the law on gender-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. While it is generally accepted that gender-based classifications must be evaluated under intermediate scrutiny, the Supreme Court's precedent provides lower courts with little guidance in applying that standard. (4)