Gurumurthy Kalyanaram discusses the current state of this vital public policy question on consideration elements to admission to universities and colleges.\
The Supreme Court called for a strict scrutiny, without defining what that strict scrutiny meant. The Court forcefully explained that meaningful strict scrutiny must always be applied to a college’s use of race, and added that a reviewing “court must ultimately be satisfied that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity” (without discussing whether the word “workable” takes account of the university’s other educational goals — such as assembling a student body with good academic credentials.) For now, the Court has not defined the thresholds and/or parameters of what might constitute strict scrutiny.
Overall, it appears that race-based affirmative action can continue. As a result of all this, educational institutions remain more or less free to continue to do what they have been doing, provided they are more careful in their justification.