Federal judges have once again ruled in favor of a university that factors race into its admissions process.

The 2-1 decision is the most recent in a series of rulings since Fisher v. University of Texas entered the judicial system six years ago. The lawsuit reached the nation’s highest court last year, when Supreme Court justices found that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had not looked at the case under a tough enough legal standard.

With the legal question sent back to them, judges determined Monday under strict scrutiny, the highest level of judicial review, that the University of Texas-Austin could consider race when admitting students.

Attorneys representing the plaintiff, Abigail Fisher, plan to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court again, which means the case could continue for at least another year.

In Texas, public universities automatically offer spots to public high schools students who land in the top 10 percent of their classes – a tool meant to diversify student bodies. University officials look at applicants holistically, using factors such as test scores, essays, socioeconomic status and race, to admit 20 percent of incoming classes.

The University of Texas-Austin managed to show that Fisher, who applied to the school in 2007, would not have gained admission regardless of her race because she was not in the top 10 percent of her high school class and she failed to make the cut under the college’s “holistic” approach.

Affirmative action made its way to the Supreme Court again this spring, when the justices ruled that Michigan’s ban on the use of race-conscious policies at public universities was constitutional, making it the eighth state in the country to prohibit the controversial practice.

GW officials, including Vice Provost of Diversity and Inclusion Terri Harris Reed and Provost Steven Lerman, have said in the past that the University supports the consideration of race in college admissions.