Kansas University officials think their admissions processes would be safe even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a University of Michigan law school policy that allows affirmative action.

“We will not be impacted by this,” said Lisa Pinamonti, interim director of admissions and scholarships. “Race is not a factor in admissions.”

The Michigan case drew national headlines last week after the Bush administration said minorities shouldn’t be given preferential treatment in determining college admissions.

The administration was commenting on a lawsuit filed in 1997 by a white woman who was denied admission to the Michigan law school.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case this spring.

Applicants for Michigan’s undergraduate classes are scored by points, with minorities or some poor applicants receiving a boost of 20 points on a scale of 150. At the law school, admissions officers use a looser formula that tries to make sure that each class has a “critical mass” of about 10 percent to 12 percent minority enrollment.

But Pinamonti said KU has no such point systems or quotas.

“We have qualified admissions,” she said, which are based on grade point averages, involvement and other factors.

Steve McAllister, dean of the KU School of Law, said he didn’t think the law school would be affected, either. He said the committee that determines admissions based them on a variety of factors, including LSAT scores, undergraduate GPA and a personal statement on why an applicant wants to be a law student.

“The only way we’d even know race is if they say it in their essay,” he said.

Both Pinamonti and McAllister said KU attempted to increase minority enrollment by convincing more qualified minority students to apply. KU does offer privately funded scholarships designed to increase diversity in several areas, including race.

“If the court takes a middle-of-the-road, narrower view, it’s not going to be any problem for us,” McAllister said.

“If they say that in absolutely no way can race play a role in any shape or form, obviously that could affect every university.”