While the groups opted not to take legal action against Harvard last spring, they have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education against MIT, Washington University in St. Louis and three other colleges.

Last February, MIT dropped its minorities-only requirement for a summer program designed to increase math and science skills among high school students and incoming college first-years.

“We are not trying to end any of these programs,” said Clegg. “We just want them to be open to all students.”

According to Clegg, the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases stepped up pressure on other institutions to review their race-based policies.

“We think it’s even clearer now that you cannot have a racially-exclusive program,” Clegg said.

But Langdell Professor of Law Martha A. Field ’65 said that the court’s ruling did not necessarily require the Business School program to drop its race-based criterion.

“The Supreme Court has not passed a decision on this question,” Field said.

The University’s Office of the General Counsel did not return requests for comment.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.