Mixed Results On Racial Makeup Of Entering Classes At Elite Colleges

As several of the nation’s elite colleges begin to report the details of their entering classes for the new academic year, a mixed picture is emerging regarding the racial composition of their incoming students.

This is the first class of students to be admitted after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina finding that race-conscious admissions was unconstitutional. As a result of that decision, there has been widespread speculation about the effects it would have on the racial makeup of entering classes at those institutions that considered a student’s race as one factor in its admissions decisions.

The initial data are mixed. Several selective or highly selective colleges are seeing the number of entering Black and Latino students decline substantially from prior years, while others are reporting only small differences. Overall, the picture remains cloudy, with some institutions — such as Harvard University — still not releasing a description of their entering class.

Here is a sample of what’s been reported so far.

Last month MIT reported that its freshman class is comprised of 16% Black, Hispanic, Native American or Pacific Islander students. That compares to a 25% enrollment for those groups in the years 2024 to 2027.

The biggest drop was in Black student enrollment: 5% of this year’s incoming class is Black, compared to 13% from 2024 to 2027. Hispanic student enrollment decreased from 15% in recent years to 11% in this year’s entering freshmen.

There was little change in the percentage of white students, moving from 38% in recent years to 37% this year. Asian American student enrollment increased to 47% this year compared with 41% in previous years.

In a Q&A posted…