Elite US colleges see Black enrollment drop after affirmative action strike-down
Amherst College and Tufts University report lower number of Black students this year as white enrollment increases
Léonie Chao-Fong
Fri 30 Aug 2024 18.23 EDT
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Enrollment for Black students fell at two elite US colleges in the first class since the supreme court’s decision last year to strike down affirmative action in college admissions and upend the nation’s academic landscape.
Amherst College and Tufts University, both in Massachusetts, reported a drop in the share of Black first-year students, an early sign that the high court’s ruling could negatively affect racial diversity in the US’s more selective colleges and universities, according to the New York Times.
In June 2023, the US supreme court, driven by its conservative supermajority, ended race-conscious admissions at universities across the country in a move that dealt a substantial blow to the cause of greater student diversity on campuses, which critics warned would have far-reaching effects throughout society.
The share of Black students at Amherst College for the incoming freshman class decreased by eight percentage points, from 11% last year to 3% this year, the data showed. The percentage of Hispanic students dropped from 12% to 8%.
Harvard students Shruthi Kumar, left, and Muskaan Arshad, join a rally with other activists as the supreme court hears oral arguments on a pair of cases that could decide the future of affirmative action, on 31 October 2022.
What was affirmative action designed to do – and what has it achieved?
Read more
Meanwhile, the percentage of white students at Amherst College rose sharply, from 33% to 39%, and the percentage of Asian American students rose slightly, from 18% to 20%.
Black students in Tuft University’s incoming class of 2028 fell from 7.3% to 4.7% – while white students went up from 46.8% to 49.3%. The percentage of Asian American students decreased slightly from 20.3% to 19.7%.
The data comes after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced a sharp fall in admissions from “members of historically under-represented racial and ethnic groups” last week, making it the first major US university to release statistics on the composition of its freshman class since the supreme court ruling.
According to MIT’s admissions department, the percentage of Black students enrolled this year dropped from 15% to 5%, and the percentage of Hispanic and Latino students dropped from 16% to 11%.
In a statement to students obtained by the Times, Amherst’s dean of admissions, Matthew L McGann, acknowledged that “as a consequence of the supreme court’s decision, the incoming class is not as racially diverse as recent classes have been”.
Admissions data for Harvard University and the University of North Carolina – the two institutions at the center of the supreme court ruling at issue – have yet to be released.
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Yet, from Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
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From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble.
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Amherst College and Tufts University report lower number of Black students this year as white enrollment increases
Léonie Chao-Fong
Fri 30 Aug 2024 18.23 EDT
Share
Enrollment for Black students fell at two elite US colleges in the first class since the supreme court’s decision last year to strike down affirmative action in college admissions and upend the nation’s academic landscape.
Amherst College and Tufts University, both in Massachusetts, reported a drop in the share of Black first-year students, an early sign that the high court’s ruling could negatively affect racial diversity in the US’s more selective colleges and universities, according to the New York Times.
In June 2023, the US supreme court, driven by its conservative supermajority, ended race-conscious admissions at universities across the country in a move that dealt a substantial blow to the cause of greater student diversity on campuses, which critics warned would have far-reaching effects throughout society.
The share of Black students at Amherst College for the incoming freshman class decreased by eight percentage points, from 11% last year to 3% this year, the data showed. The percentage of Hispanic students dropped from 12% to 8%.
Harvard students Shruthi Kumar, left, and Muskaan Arshad, join a rally with other activists as the supreme court hears oral arguments on a pair of cases that could decide the future of affirmative action, on 31 October 2022.
What was affirmative action designed to do – and what has it achieved?
Read more
Meanwhile, the percentage of white students at Amherst College rose sharply, from 33% to 39%, and the percentage of Asian American students rose slightly, from 18% to 20%.
Black students in Tuft University’s incoming class of 2028 fell from 7.3% to 4.7% – while white students went up from 46.8% to 49.3%. The percentage of Asian American students decreased slightly from 20.3% to 19.7%.
The data comes after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced a sharp fall in admissions from “members of historically under-represented racial and ethnic groups” last week, making it the first major US university to release statistics on the composition of its freshman class since the supreme court ruling.
According to MIT’s admissions department, the percentage of Black students enrolled this year dropped from 15% to 5%, and the percentage of Hispanic and Latino students dropped from 16% to 11%.
In a statement to students obtained by the Times, Amherst’s dean of admissions, Matthew L McGann, acknowledged that “as a consequence of the supreme court’s decision, the incoming class is not as racially diverse as recent classes have been”.
Admissions data for Harvard University and the University of North Carolina – the two institutions at the center of the supreme court ruling at issue – have yet to be released.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask if you would consider supporting the Guardian’s journalism as we enter one of the most consequential news cycles of our lifetimes in 2024.
We have never been more passionate about exposing the multiplying threats to our democracy and holding power to account in America. In the heat of a tumultuous presidential race, with the threat of a more extreme second Trump presidency looming, there is an urgent need for free, trustworthy journalism that foregrounds the stakes of November’s election for our country and planet.
Yet, from Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy.
From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble.
Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not.
