Harvard’s Black Enrollment Declines Following US Supreme Court’s Ruling Against Affirmative Action

By Joseph Ax

The percentage of Black students in Harvard University’s freshman class has declined by more than 20% following a significant U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prevents colleges from considering race in their admissions processes, as indicated by data released by the university.

According to Harvard, the Class of 2028 includes 14% Black students, down from 18% the previous year. In contrast, the proportion of Hispanic students saw a slight increase, rising from 14% to 16%.

Harvard, along with the University of North Carolina, was a key defendant in the 2023 Supreme Court case. The universities argued that fostering racial diversity enhances the educational experience for all students. However, the court’s conservative majority determined that factoring in race, often referred to as affirmative action, constituted discrimination.

Colleges had expressed concerns that the prohibition on considering race would lead to reduced enrollment of minority students, a prediction that appears to be reflected in the initial data from various selective institutions. The outcomes have been varied; some prestigious universities, such as Yale and Princeton, have reported minimal changes in their Black and Hispanic student enrollments this fall.

Conversely, other schools have experienced significant declines. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the percentage of Black, Hispanic, Native American, or Pacific Islander students in the freshman class dropped to 16%, significantly lower than the 31% average over the past four years. Similarly, Brown University reported a decrease in its Black student enrollment from 15% to 9% and Hispanic enrollment from 14% to 10%. Amherst College noted that only 3% of its incoming class is Black, compared to 11% the previous academic year.

The lawsuit against Harvard claimed the institution favored certain minorities over Asian American applicants; however, the percentage of Asian American students in Harvard’s freshman class remained stable at 37%.

In response to the ruling, many colleges have enhanced recruitment efforts, aimed at eliminating application barriers, and are pursuing various strategies to boost diversity. Additionally, some advocates are encouraging state legislatures to implement measures that eliminate admission preferences for legacy candidates.

In their announcement of the enrollment data, Harvard emphasized its initiatives to expand outreach, including dispatching admissions staff to over 150 cities and participating in a consortium of universities aimed at promoting awareness of their institutions in rural areas.

Hopi Hoekstra, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, stated in a letter to colleagues, "The change in law did not change our fundamental commitments. We will continue to work tirelessly to pull down barriers to a Harvard education and, in compliance with the law, to deepen even further our commitment to broad-based diversity."