The future of affirmative action in college admissions largely rests on the upcoming Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College which was granted certiorari on January 24, 2022. Students for Fair Admissions hopes to induce the Court to overrule the precedent established by Grutter v. Bollinger that allows institutions of higher education to factor race into admission decisions. The organization also asserts that Harvard's race-conscious policies violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by penalizing Asian-American applicants in admissions. With many of the conservative Justices being outspoken critics of affirmative action, many who support affirmative action fear for its future. This article provides a breakdown of past rulings in Supreme Court cases and the Justices' legal opinions on affirmative action to help provide greater insight into the potential outcome of Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Recent lawsuits filed by the Students for Fair Admissions group against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that will be heard in the Supreme Court have cast doubt over the future of affirmative action. While universities that practice this race-conscious admissions policy defend it as a tool for promoting diversity that does not discriminate among ethnicities, many disagree. Instead, some propose turning to socioeconomic status as a factor that should be used more heavily in college admissions, as it appears to achieve
the same goal of promoting diversity without the controversies that race-based policies bring, and diminishing the role of race. Following this line of thought would allow U.S. colleges to
maintain variety while maintain fairness.

After decades of Supreme Court precedent in favor of allowing universities to consider race in admissions, another case has risen to challenge the practice: Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College. While prior affirmative action cases have focused largely on discrimination against White applicants, the upcoming SFFA v. Harvard evaluates whether Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants in its admissions, an allegation that seemingly adds a new layer in the debate over affirmative action. Yet, despite SFFA v. Harvard’s more novel argument about Asian American discrimination, the legal rationale for affirmative action still holds.