Random selection is a fair way to break ties between applicants of equal merit seeking admission to institutions of higher education (with "merit" defined here in terms of the intrinsic contribution higher education would make to the applicant's life). Opponents of random selection commonly argue that differences in strength between applicant claims almost always exist, so that few if any ties need be broken. Fairness, however, also demands that no distinctions be drawn among applicant claims unless those distinctions are more likely to track merit than extraneous arbitrary factors (such as race, gender, or class). Fairness thus requires random selection under the right circumstances, and these circumstances frequently obtain in the realm of higher education admissions.