Two lawsuits filed separately on Monday against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill blame the race-based affirmative action policies of the two academic institutions for fewer number of Asian-American students admitted. The suits sought a prohibition of the policy not only in the two universities but in all colleges in the U.S.

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The lawsuits are only the first of several legal challenges to be filed against colleges across the nation to ban admission based on race of the applications, said the Project on Fair Representation, a legal defense fund based in Alexandria, Virginia. The plaintiff in both cases is the Students for Fair Admission, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit organization, reports the Associated Press.

However, the two universities defended their policies.

UNC-Chapel Hill spokesman Rick White said diversity has educational benefits to students and such a policy prepares the students to live and exist in a diverse society. In accepting undergraduate applicants from different background, UNC makes available to future generations "a pool of strong state leaders."

Robert Iuliano, general counsel of Harvard, cited the 1978 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case involving the regents of the University of California v. Bakke. He said the court ruled in favor of affirmative action.

He said Harvard's admission policy is a "legally sound approach." Iuliano added that all applicants go through individualized, holistic review as the university aims to create "a vibrant academic community" wherein the students are exposed to differences in the background, ideas, experiences, talents and aspirations of the student population.

But the lawsuits insisted that Harvard has a higher benchmark for Asian Americans compared to applicants from other races, which results in Asian Americans competing against each other for limited slots in the prestigious university.

It pointed to a 2009 Princeton study made by sociologists that the average Asian American applicant must have a SAT score higher than 1460, while the requirement for white applicants is a score of 1320, blacks 1010 and Hispanic 1190, Fox News reports.

It said that Harvard's maintains the same percentage of enrollees from African Americans, Hispanics, whites and Asian Americans every year even if application rates and qualifications for every racial group had gone through major changes over time.

TagsHarvard University, University of North Carolina, asian american, racial profiling, admission policies