Abigail N. Fisher, a Caucasian female, applied for undergraduate admission to the University of Texas in 2008. In response to a federal appeals court ruling in Hopwood v. Texas that ended affirmative action policies at Texas public colleges and universities, legislators passed House Bill 588. Popularly referred to as the "10 Percent Plan", the legislation requires the Texas higher education system to admit all students who finish in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class to the public institution of their choice. The law delineates 18 academic and socioeconomic criteria that state colleges and universities can consider when making admission decisions for students who do not fall within the top ten percent of their class. 

Fisher was not in the top ten percent of her class, so she competed for admission with other non-top ten percent in-state applicants. The University of Texas denied Fisher's application. Fisher filed suit against the university and other related defendants, claiming that the University of Texas' use of race as a consideration in admission decisions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The university argued that its use of race was a narrowly tailored means of pursuing greater diversity. The district court decided in favor of the University of Texas, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. Fisher appealed the appellate court’s decision.

The court held that the University of Texas’ use of race as a factor in the holistic review used to fill the spots remaining after the Top Ten Percent Plan was narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. The previous precedent had established that educational diversity is a compelling interest as long as it is expressed as a concrete and precise goal that is neither a quota of minority students nor an amorphous idea of diversity.