The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday shut down a state-funded grant program that steered tuition aid to Black, Hispanic, Native American and certain Southeast Asian students at private and technical colleges, unanimously enjoining the program as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and ending four decades of race-based eligibility for the awards.

Writing for the court in Rabiebna v. Higher Educational Aids Board, Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler held that the agency administering the Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program had failed to identify a compelling state interest, and that even if it had, the statute was not narrowly tailored because race was the sole eligibility factor.

The justices affirmed a 2025 court of appeals ruling and enjoined the board from operating the program.

Enacted in 1985 and expanded in 1987, the program awarded up to $2,500 a year to students who are Black, Hispanic, American Indian or immigrants from Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam admitted to the United States after Dec. 31, 1975.

Students outside those categories were categorically ineligible. The Legislature reauthorizes the grants every two years.

The court leaned heavily on Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the 2023 ruling that ended race-conscious college admissions.

Diversity standing alone, Ziegler wrote, is no longer a recognized compelling interest, and the board never produced data from the time of enactment showing a retention crisis at the state's private and technical colleges; its statistics dated to 2015 and later.

"HEAB has not even identified any objectives or benefits it hopes to promote or achieve through diverse student bodies," the opinion said.

All seven justices joined the mandate, though three of the court's liberals split off on reasoning.

Chief Justice Jill J. Karofsky concurred, arguing that a properly supported program could survive a Fourteenth Amendment reading that honors its anti-oppression purpose, and at oral argument she pressed plaintiffs' counsel on racial disparities in housing, healthcare and education.

Luke Berg of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, the firm that brought the suit, told the court the worst discrimination is "when the law treats individuals differently based on their race."

Dan Lennington, managing vice president at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, called the decision a turning point for state policy.

"This is a major win for students," he said. "Race cannot be used to dole out scholarships and other financial aid. This is also a big win for taxpayers, who can now challenge many other race-based programs in state court."

The Higher Educational Aids Board declined to say immediately how it would wind down the grants or what would happen to students who are counting on them for the coming semester.

The case returns to the Jefferson County Circuit Court for entry of the injunction.