Harvard sees decline in new Black students after Supreme Court ruling

Harvard University reported a drop in the number of Black students being admitted to the institution, according to enrolment numbers released Wednesday.

The Harvard freshman class is the first to enrol after the US Supreme Court's decision to end affirmative action in colleges and universities.

The data released by Harvard in the state of Massachusetts showed that 14 percent of incoming freshmen identify as Black, a 4 percent decrease from last year.

However, the number of Latino students rose 2 percent to account for 16 percent of the freshman class.

Most of this year's incoming students were comprised of Asian Americans, which remained steady at 37 percent.

"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 Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William Fitzsimmons in a statement.

"We will continue to fulfill our mission, even as we continue to follow the law with great care," he added.

Steeper decline

Harvard was one of several major universities seeing declines in new Black student enrollment after the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling to strike down race-based admissions policies in a case centred around Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The ruling has forced universities nationwide to reconsider their approaches to ensuring campus diversity.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported a much steeper decline in new Black students, with the number of Black incoming freshmen plummeting from 15 percent to 5 percent.

Amherst College also saw a big drop in Black student enrollment, which fell from 11 percent to 3 percent.

Tufts University's decline in Black freshmen resembled Harvard's drop, with Black students making up 4.7 percent of the incoming class, a drop of about 7.3 percent.

Other institutions, such as the University of North Carolina, reported a noticeable decrease in Black, Hispanic and Native American students.

But Ivy League universities Yale and Princeton reported only marginal changes in the diversity of their student body .

Diversity advocates concerned

Not all universities and colleges released their enrollment data, so it is unclear if a drop in the Black student population is prevalent across the United States.

The decline in Black student enrollment has raised concerns among diversity advocates such as the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, which pointed out that drops in the numbers of students of color can dramatically affect the campus environment.

"Harvard must address why it fell short, especially compared to other colleges," said the organisation's co-founder, Jeannie Park, in a statement.

"Practices such as reinstating test-optional applications and ending legacy and donor preferences—and much more—must be instituted asap."