In the case of Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing, 1985, Timothy Ewing was dismissed from a joint undergraduate-medical school program at the University of Michigan after failing a critical exam. He sued on grounds that his dismissal violated substantive due process under Fourteenth Amendment rights to education and liberty interests in pursuing chosen profession. The Supreme Court ruled against him with Justice Powell writing for majority stating that courts should show great respect for faculty decisions concerning students' academic performance and not interfere unless there is no rational basis for them or they are such substantial departure from accepted norms as to demonstrate an abuse of discretion by university officials. In this case, court found that university's decision had been made conscientiously and with careful deliberation thus did not violate any constitutional right.

In the dissenting opinion for Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing, Justice Powell argued that courts should not defer to university decisions when they infringe on a student's constitutional rights. He believed that Ewing had been denied due process because he was dismissed from his program based on one failed exam without being given an opportunity to retake it or appeal the decision. Powell also questioned whether there were ulterior motives behind Ewing’s dismissal, as he had previously clashed with faculty over unrelated issues. The justice felt this case raised serious questions about arbitrary and capricious actions by public institutions against individuals' constitutionally protected interests and thus deserved more scrutiny than majority provided.