quota system

American  

noun

1. a system, originally determined by legislation in 1921, of limiting by nationality the number of immigrants who may enter the U.S. each year.

2. a policy of limiting the number of minority group members in a business firm, school, etc.

3. any hiring or admissions policy requiring that a specified number or percentage of minority group members be hired or admitted.

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Etymology

Origin of quota system

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Siphon first took to the streets in 2024 to demonstrate against a quota system for coveted government jobs, which many said favored those with connections.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

A helpful program note by dramaturg Adrian Trujillo Centeno explains that the law eliminated “the national origins quota system that had favored Northern and Western Europeans since the 1920s.”

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2025

At least 25 percent of parliamentary seats must go to women, according to the quota system that also reserves nine seats for minorities.

From Barron's • Nov. 3, 2025

For decades, the US, European Union and Canada had in place a quota system that reserved a certain share of their markets for developing countries like Sri Lanka.

From BBC • Jul. 23, 2025

The quota system has worked for over two hundred years, and although it fluctuates region to region, it makes it crystal clear what each scythe’s responsibility to the world is.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman