WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop an elite Virginia high school’s admissions policies. They were designed to improve its racial diversity and to promote socioeconomic equality. However, the policy was challenged by a group claiming that the rules discriminated towards Asian Americans who comprise the bulk of the student body.

Coalition for TJ’s request for a reversal of a February Federal Judge’s ruling in Alexandria that had prohibited Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, from using the new admissions policy was denied by the justices.