While the Supreme Court upheld that race can be a factor in admissions today, this was only because Sandra O'Connor voted with the majority. And wrote its opinion:

She declared that the Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body."

She is one of two Justices most likely to retire while Bush is President. The Republicans are determined that the next will be much more conservative.

So this is a temporary reprieve until we're once again a multi-party country.

My thus-far cursory review suggests that race, and possibly other factors, will be assessed less quantitatively, and therefore more subjectively, in the future. The Court found that Michigan's point-based system, which automatically adds the same number of points to every minority undergraduate candidate, was unconstitutional. But the Court didn't provide specific guidelines as to what sort of point system, if any, might pass muster.

My guess is that most institutions will be worried that more subjective admissions systems will be open to even more law suits in the future.

UPDATE: Tresy for Atrios looks in more detail. Death by a thousand cuts.