Harvard released their shocking freshmen demographics in the second year since affirmative action was banned in the US.
The percentage of Black and Hispanic students in the class of 2029 dropped significantly while the number of Asian enrollees skyrocketed.
The Ivy League school reported that just 11.5 percent of first year students identified as Black, down three percent from the class of 2028.
In comparison, before the Supreme Court‘s affirmative action ban took effect in 2023, Harvard’s freshman class boasted 18 percent Black students, according to the New York Times.
Only 11 percent of Harvard’s freshmen were Hispanic or Latino students, which decreased from 16 percent in the previous enrolling class.
The Supreme Court banned affirmative action in 2023, instead requiring schools to engage in race-blind admissions.
Justices cited programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, which considered race in the many factors of assessing qualified applicants.
Since the ban, the number of Asian students enrolled in Harvard’s freshman class quickly increased.
Harvard’s class of 2029 saw a sharp decrease in Black and Hispanic enrollment
The university boasted an increase, however, in the number of Asian students entering the freshman class
Incoming freshman this fall identified as 41 percent Asian American. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, the class of 2027 had only 25 percent Asian American students, according to the Harvard Crimson.
In 2024, the incoming freshman were 37 percent Asian American.
Reporting ethnicity was optional for all domestic students. Harvard did not report the percentage of white students among the 2,003 admitted.
Students for Fair Admissions sued the school in 2014, alleging that its inclusive admissions were discriminatory against high-scoring Asian students.
‘We have worked very hard for many decades to ensure that students from every background come to Harvard and make a difference to their fellow classmates, the nation, and the world,’ said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of Harvard admissions and financial aid, to the Harvard Gazette.
‘We will continue to fulfill our mission, even as we continue to follow the law with great care.’
Harvard isn’t the only university that has seen a curious shift in Black and Asian student demographics since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action two years ago.
Princeton’s Black enrollment for freshmen fell to 5 percent this fall. The number is the lowest since 1968, according to the Daily Princeton.
The number of Asian students increased from 24 percent to 27 percent.
Experts have pointed to the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that banned affirmative action as the reason for the shift
Some organizations have said that affirmative action discriminated against high-scoring Asian American students
Yale University admitted only 12 percent Black students into the class of 2029, down from 14 percent the year prior, according to Yale Admissions.
Asian American students, on the other hand, rose from 24 percent to 30 percent.
James Murphy, the director of postsecondary policy for Education Reform Now, told the New York Times that a decline in Black enrollment is a noteworthy trend.
‘African American enrollment has dropped significantly at almost all the highly selective institutions reporting this year,’ he said.
The controversy surrounding diversity at the collegiate level may not stop there.
The Trump administration has been vocal with their disapproval of ‘hidden racial proxies’ and ‘the rampant use of “diversity statements”‘ in higher education, according to the White House.
Trump proposed a plan that required education institutions to transparently report their enrollment demographics if they want to receive federal financial assistance.
Earlier this year, a federal court in Massachusetts blocked the Trump administration from restricting Harvard’s international student enrollment.
In their demographics report, the school listed 16 percent international students in the class of 2029.
