The theory I read back in the day was that inferior students who graduated did just as well as qualified graduates. I ran into affirmative action graduates for the last third of my career. They got passed around quickly by program managers because for the most part they sucked a charge number dry while producing nothing useful. Often, they ended up on overhead jobs like the diversity council or some other liberal make-work job. My tactic for handling most of them was to sit for a friendly chat, then pull out my report and ask, “last week you charged forty hours to my number. What was it you did for me?” Sometimes they were flabbergasted that I even asked. But if they kept charging it I would check their card and stop by more frequently. Most of the time I could shame them in to sucking somebody else’s charge number. Once I was accused of racism and harassment. But after he complained and I’d been talked to by HR, they moved him to somebody else.
This is the primary reason that the various "studies" programs exist in universities. The colleges are trying to make their numbers and need somewhere to dump the affirmative action cases, both faculty and students.
Like the black guy who was arrested several times posing as a doctor in a hospital, might as well make him a doctor thru affirmative action because he wants to be one, credentials and experience need not apply