The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 23 that the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions policy is constitutional. The court voted 4-3 that the policy may use race as a factor for acceptance to the university.

Considering students’ races as justification for admission, a form of affirmative action, was implemented in 2004 to increase student diversity, according to the court’s ruling. Plaintiff Abigail Fisher, a native of Sugar Land, argued she was denied admission to the school in 2008 because she is white.

“We believe that this is a powerful statement that diversity is viewed as a compelling state interest, and that the use of race as defined by the Top 10 Percent Rule in our holistic admissions policy at UT Austin has been deemed constitutional,” said Gregory Vincent, UT vice president for diversity and community engagement, in a video filmed outside the court building upon hearing the verdict.

Race is one factor considered in a UT applicant’s Personal Achievement Index, which includes socioeconomic factors, leadership, work experience and extracurricular activities. Together with an Academic Index, these indices make up one of two components for determining admission to the university.

The second component is the state’s Top 10 Percent Rule, which guarantees admission to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school class. According to the court’s ruling, Fisher did not graduate from Stephen F. Austin High School in the top 10 percent of her class.

“The component with the largest impact on [the] petitioner’s chances of admission was not the school’s consideration of race under its holistic-review process but the top [10] percent plan,” the ruling said. “Because [the] petitioner did not challenge the percentage part of the plan, the record is devoid of evidence of its impact on diversity.”

Fisher was granted admission to UT under the Coordinated Admission Program, wherein students may attend another University of Texas System campus and enroll at UT after their freshman years. Instead, Fisher chose to attend Louisiana State University, according to court documents from UT.

“I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has ruled that students applying to the [University] of Texas can be treated differently because of their race or ethnicity," Fisher said in a statement. "I hope that the nation will one day move beyond affirmative action.”

Her statement was issued by the Project on Fair Representation, a nonprofit that supported her legal defense fund.

Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the Court’s opinion—joined by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer. He said the affirmative action policy was protected under the Equal Protection Clause.

“Race enters the admissions process, then, at one stage and one stage only—the calculation of the [Personal Achievement Score],” Kennedy said. “Therefore, although admissions officers can consider race as a positive feature of a minority student’s application, there is no dispute that race is but a ‘factor of a factor of a factor’ in the holistic-review calculus.”

Justice Samuel Alito delivered a dissenting opinion—joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas. He said UT failed to show its admissions policy serves specific interests by using race and ethnicity as a factor.

“When it adopted its race-based plan, UT said that the plan was needed to promote classroom diversity,” Alito said. “The university presents no evidence that its admissions officers, in administering the holistic component of its plan, make any effort to determine whether an African-American, Hispanic or Asian-American student is likely to enroll in classes in which minority students are underrepresented.”

Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from voting because she had previously worked on the case as U.S. solicitor general for the Department of Justice. The seat left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia remains open.