[benesch]

US laws essentially encourage unwritten quotas. While actual numbers are prohibited [0], race is explicitly listed as a legal factor to consider in admission. (Supreme court decision; can't remember the citation.)

So you can't say "we're letting in 300 of RACE this year." But, when you have 301 of RACE, you can say, "I feel like the number of RACE we've admitted this year negatively impacts the diversity of our student body."

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action#cite_ref-6

[redwood]

It is different, however, to say "we want more of minority X at the expense of the majoity" than to say 'the maximum number of minority X is Y"