"It's not nice, but it seems if diversity is something you value, it has to be done," Lai says.
Asian-Americans should not criticize the programs, he says, since the discrimination they face can be overcome with "extra effort."
"There has been much more intense discrimination against black Americans," Lai says.
Lai, who plans to go into banking, also notes that while Asian-Americans may not benefit as much from college recruitment efforts, they continue to benefit from work-place recruiting.
"There aren't that many Asians on the trading floor," Lai says.
But Kang says many Asian-Americans oppose affirmative action precisely because they have not benefited in the workplace.
"The way affirmative action works, it basically doesn't help the glass ceiling problem," Kang says. "Affirmative action is most effective at getting people in the door, but once you're there, I don't think it's that effective in promoting equity in the workplace."
Luo says affirmative action policies are still needed--and can still benefit Asian-Americans--in the corporate world.
"You don't see very often Fortune 500 companies with Asian-Americans in there," Luo says. "There's still the 'old boys' mentality."
Although the future of affirmative action programs remains in question, Cheng says she thinks opposition among Asian-Americans is on the rise.
"There's a growing trend of neo-conservative Asians," Cheng says. "It's about members of a minority coming out of a history of exclusion and seeing they are being accepted and thinking they can buy into that."