A federal appeals court upheld a $503-million plan to end Mississippi's long-running college-desegregation lawsuit in a unanimous decision issued on Tuesday. Many of the original plaintiffs in the case had opposed the settlement and had asked the court to reject it.

Opponents of the settlement still may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit brings Mississippi one step closer toward closing a lawsuit that is almost 30 years old.

The state's college-desegregation case dates to 1975, when Jake Ayers Sr. sued on behalf of his son, who attended historically black Jackson State University. Mr. Ayers and other black citizens sought equal education at black institutions and wanted to force the state to provide more resources to the colleges and improve their academic quality.

About two years ago, a federal district judge approved a settlement plan that was negotiated among federal and state officials as well as some of the original plaintiffs (The Chronicle, March 1, 2002).

The agreement would require Mississippi to pay for new academic programs, construction projects, and endowments at the state's three historically black institutions over 17 years. Among other things, the plan also would set a goal for those institutions of building student bodies in which, for three years in a row, at least 10 percent of those who enroll are not black. Until reaching that goal, a university could not control its share of the principal of the new endowments the plan would create.

The plaintiffs who oppose the settlement believe it fails to provide enough money for the three institutions -- Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley State Universities. The settlement opponents also want to eliminate the enrollment goals and to allow the three universities to adopt lower admissions standards so more students could gain access to college.

The opponents, in seeking to opt out of the agreement, argued that they had not been adequately represented in negotiations over the plan.

In its decision, the appeals court concluded that the federal district judge had correctly denied the opponents' request to opt out of the agreement, said that lowering admissions standards by allowing open admissions at historically black institutions would be "educationally unsound," and defended the settlement's provisions on enrollment goals for historically black universities as a "legitimate incentive" to attract students of all races.

"The settlement agreement provides meaningful relief," the appeals-court panel said. In particular, the judges praised the plan for providing "generous" funds for academic programs at historically black universities and money to give more financial aid to students who participate in summer programs that help them prepare academically for college.

Officials at the state's public-university system praised the court's decision, saying that it was past time that Mississippi's historically black institutions be able to benefit from the money included in the settlement plan.

"We are delighted," said Pamela Smith, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. "We are hopeful that any appeals process will be swift so that we can be about the business of building programs and facilities so that all of our students can be served."

Opponents of the settlement now have 90 days to file an appeal. Alvin O. Chambliss Jr., who represented those challenging the plan, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday about the decision or whether he plans to appeal it.