Last year, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in colleges and universities, ruling that race should not be a factor in admissions. Affirmative action policies in colleges were established to create equal educational opportunities and increase minority representation. However, others found that affirmative action promoted affirmative action by favoring certain races or groups and was unfair to “more skilled” applicants, creating controversy on the fairness of affirmative action.

Affirmative action was implemented in higher education in the late twentieth century in order to increase the racial diversity of their campuses. Several studies focused on the impact of diverse environments and found that students had better racial attitudes, improved decision-making, and other positive influences. However, affirmative action is not only about diversification but trying to overcome some of the socioeconomic differences. By providing more opportunities and resources, colleges are giving underrepresented students this advantage that most of us already have with our background and education.

On the other hand, some people find that considering race in admissions is unfair as it allows students who are “less deserving” to be accepted to top schools while thousands of talented students with perfect GPAs and extracurriculars are rejected. They think of college admissions as a meritocracy when it is not. Considering students who were admitted from legacy, relatives, and donations, the college admissions system was never fair and gave an advantage to those of higher status and wealth. Additionally, financially disadvantaged students do not have the money for extracurricular activities or tutoring academies, making the playing field unequal from the start. By eliminating affirmative action, these efforts to make up for some of these differences are also gone.

In order to improve equal access to opportunities, affirmative action programs should continue being implemented. While many argue that there is increased racial diversity and reduced discrimination in school and the workplace, the long-lasting effects from the past and barriers between races still exist. With the continued use of special outreach programs to encourage higher education, not only does minority representation increase, but social mobility is promoted as well, leading us one step closer to educational equity. In high schools, college counselors should also promote students to focus on colleges with good social mobility to break generational wealth barriers and income gaps.