After the decline of affirmative action in college admissions, the first class of 2028 to enroll saw a decline in the proportion of Asian American students and an increase in enrollment of white students. Other racial demographic groups remained roughly the same.
Hayley Talbert September 4, 2024 1:15am
staff reporter
Ellie Park, Multimedia Editor-in-Chief
The Class of 2028, the first group of students admitted to Yale since the Supreme Court abolished race-based college admissions, will have a lower proportion of Asian American and white students than last year’s class. While there have been changes, black and Latino enrollments have remained roughly the same.
The Class of 2028 is 14 percent African American, 24 percent Asian American, 19 percent Hispanic or Latino, and 3 percent Native American, according to the first-year class profile released by the Office of Admissions. , 46 percent identify as white.
Compared to the Class of 2027, who enrolled in the previous race-conscious admissions cycle, the Class of 2028 saw a 4% increase in the proportion of white students and a 6% decrease in the proportion of Asian American students. The percentages of Black or African American students and Native American students both remained the same.
Yale’s report comes as several other universities are seeing declines in black and Latino enrollment.
The percentage of Hispanic or Latino students increased by 1%, making the Class of 2028 the largest percentage of Latino students in Yale’s history.
Students who choose not to answer the optional race question on their application are not included in the demographic data, and some students indicate more than one race and the percentages do not add up to 100. It means not to be.
“Yale University’s new students have extraordinary interests, ambitions, and talents that enrich the undergraduate learning environment,” Jeremiah Quinlan, director of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, said in a press statement to Yale News.
A Yale News article said the Class of 2028 had “the highest number of applications ever from students who identify as members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.”
The News could not confirm whether the changes in admissions demographics for the Class of 2028 were directly caused by changes in admissions procedures after affirmative action. Quinlan and Mark Dunn, associate director of admissions, did not respond to further questions about the results until the class profile was released.
Demographic changes in elite universities after affirmative action
After the decline of affirmative action, some Yale schools, such as MIT and Amherst College, saw significant declines in enrollment of African American and Hispanic or Latino students.
Compared to the Class of 2027, MIT’s most recent class saw a decrease in the percentage of Black students, from 15 percent to 5 percent. The percentage of Latino students also decreased from 16% last year to 11%.
At Amherst College, the percentage of Black students in the Class of 2028 decreased from 11 percent of the Class of 2027 to 3 percent. At Tufts University, it fell from 7.3 percent to 4.7 percent.
Some universities, like Yale, did not see a significant drop in black student enrollment this year. At the University of Virginia, black student enrollment decreased from 7.9% to 7% this year. At Emory University, this percentage decreased from 12.6 percent for 2027 graduates to 11.1 percent for 2028 graduates.
At MIT, Asian American admissions increased from 40% to 47%, while the share of Asian American students in Yale’s Class of 2028 fell to 24% from 30% the year before.
The percentage of white students at Yale increased from 42 percent to 46 percent compared to the previous class. MIT’s Class of 2028 saw a modest 1% decline in white student enrollment.
Changes in admission procedures after affirmative action
Yale University has made several changes to its admissions process for the Class of 2028.
In a letter to the Yale community last September in response to the ruling regarding affirmative action in college admissions, Quinlan and Yale Dean Pericles Lewis wrote: ”
In a September 2023 letter, Lewis and Quinlan emphasized three “unwavering priorities” in the wake of the repeal of affirmative action for college admissions: “We continue to support a diverse and inclusive community, and maintain a world-class admissions process that takes into consideration:” Each applicant is treated as an individual. ”
Applicants last year were able to answer optional questions about their self-proclaimed race in the Common Application, but admissions officers involved in the selection process did not have access to those answers. Universities were able to access the data after students enrolled.
Last year, Yale’s supplemental essay prompt allowed students to answer one of three questions aimed at “encouraging students of all backgrounds to reflect on the experiences that shaped their character and strengths.” It has been changed to:
Admissions offices also began using location-based data from the Opportunity Atlas, a national mapping project that measures economic mobility at the census tract level, increasing the number of applicants from under-resourced areas. has been shown to improve committee ratings.
The admissions office announced last year that the use of the Opportunity Atlas tool complements the admissions office’s current use of the College Board’s Landscape tool, which provides data on applicants’ high schools and neighborhoods. he told the news.
In the process of admitting the Class of 2028, the Office of Admissions has introduced several new initiatives to extend support to prospective students, including the “Yale in MOHtion Student Fly-In Program.” The initiative is a drop-in program for high school students and their families that sends 50 prospective students to Yale University’s four cultural centers: African American Cultural Center, Asian American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural Center, Native American Cultural Center).
Yale also introduced a flexible testing policy that allows students to choose which scores to include from the ACT, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and SAT tests. This policy will begin this fall.
The updated testing policy did not apply to the Class of 2028. Yale’s Class of 2028 was selected through COVID-era test-optional admissions, while MIT’s Class of 2028 was required to submit standardized test scores.
Other initiatives include hiring two new full-time admissions staff to strengthen year-round engagement with university access organizations, expanding distribution of the Diversity Viewbook, and increasing year-round engagement with university access organizations. These include building new relationships with school counselors who serve students from across the university and beyond. Underrated background.
The Undergraduate Admissions Office is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.
Updated Sept. 4: This article has been updated to clarify that Tufts University experienced a decline in African American enrollment, not Hispanic or Latino enrollment.
