This is a significant number in opposition to giving preferential treatment in college admissions based on race. But it probably won't sway the Supreme Court who has ruled several times in favor of the universities and their drive to create a "diversified" campus.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to hear a case involving the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Most voters oppose the use of so-called affirmative action policies at colleges and universities and continue to believe those policies have not been successful despite being in place for 50 years.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 24% of Likely U.S. Voters favor applying affirmative action policies to college admissions. Fifty-five percent (55%) oppose the use of such policies to determine who is admitted to colleges and universities. Twenty-one percent (21%) are undecided.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Colleges say they can't only use standardized tests to determine who gets in and who doesn't. That may be true. But neither should they establish quotas for certain races who have historically been discriminated against in the past.

Affirmative action used to mean, all things being roughly equal, the nod should be given to the minority in hiring and college admissions based on past discrimination. Superior candidates of whatever race would be admitted or hired. This has morphed into the quota driven system we have today where how a campus looks rather than how the students perform is the norm.

The Supreme Court will likely uphold the admission process because diversity is the new god on campus and in the workplace. Performance doesn't matter anymore as long as government can force conditions to be created so that everyone gets a "fair shot."