In 2023, affirmative action was banned by the Supreme Court. Affirmative action was a college admissions practice that was enforced starting 1961, giving an increased chance of admission to minority groups that were subject to discrimination. As expected by many, diversity and representation of ethnic backgrounds increased, but conflict emerged, with lawsuits and investigations for corruption becoming more prevalent.

Based on investigations conducted on colleges such as Harvard and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Asian-American students had to score 140 points higher on the SAT than White students, and 450 points higher than African-American students to have the same chance of admission, which is obviously a ridiculously hard standard to meet. Additionally, Asian students were given lower marks on subjective personality traits such as maturity, leadership, and humor by admissions officers during interviews. After the prohibition of affirmative action, however, the percentage of Asian-American university students rose from 26% to 45% between 2023 and 2025, but in the same span, the proportion of Black students reduced from 10% to 4%, and Hispanic students from 21% to 10%. 

With affirmative action, racial diversity and representation were improving significantly, but certain groups of people, such as the Asian students, were being sold short. This should not be ideal. My brother, who was applying for colleges during this time, expressed how the policy had discouraged him from trying for certain schools. But now, with affirmative action gone, colleges are seeing huge increases in Asian student proportions, while having major losses in students of African and Hispanic descent. This is also not ideal. Cultural diversity, especially within schools, is something that I support immensely. Exposure to different cultures builds greater emotional intelligence, respect, and collaborative skills. I, for one, had experienced this after moving to Lexington, so it is concerning to know that multiculturalism is actively decreasing in the higher education communities that many, including me, aspire to be a part of.

The college admissions process is never going to be completely fair, and the education system’s aim to create diverse student bodies without harming other ethnic groups is unrealistic. If you acknowledge the hardships that certain groups had to face (which were truly gruesome events that I never thought could be done to humans by other humans), there is no way for us Americans to “make-up” for the past discrimination done to these groups, including in the education system. Simply making college policies that unintentionally harm other groups in the process will not be beneficial either.

In the midst of mending its racist past, American colleges created more racial inequity for Asian-Americans with affirmative action. Now, with affirmative action gone, student diversity is at risk of regressing back to where it once was before 1961. The solution to the inequality in admission to higher education is definitely not simple, as demonstrated by past events, and will likely remain a difficult challenge in American education.