Two years after the US Supreme Court’s “Race-Blind Admissions” ruling, significant changes are emerging in the landscape of higher education across America. The latest enrollment data from Harvard University, one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the US, shows a notable increase in the proportion of Asian undergraduate freshmen, while the proportion of black freshmen has decreased significantly.
On Thursday, Harvard released the profile of the incoming class of 2029, revealing that black students make up 11.5% of the total freshmen, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points from the previous year, a drop of 2.6 percentage points from 2023, and a decrease of 5.1 percentage points compared to 2020.
At the same time, the proportion of Asian students has risen to 41%, higher than last year’s 37% and 29.8% in 2023, marking a historic high. Additionally, Hispanic or Latino students comprise about 11%, with nearly 2% being Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander students.
William Fitzsimmons, the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Harvard, stated in the announcement that the incoming class comes from “cities, towns, and farms around the world.” He emphasized that, regardless of their backgrounds, being able to attend Harvard is because they all possess extraordinary potential to change the world.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs from the “Students for Fair Admissions” organization, who accused Harvard of discriminating against Asian applicants in admissions and violating civil rights laws. Following the ruling, major universities in the US were forced to cancel race-based admissions policies.
The organization has also taken action against military academies, reaching settlements with the Department of War (now known as the Department of Warfare), demanding that West Point and the Air Force Academy stop considering race in admissions and has filed similar lawsuits against the Coast Guard Academy.
After taking office, President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders reaffirming the prohibition of racial preferences in university recruitment and admissions under the Civil Rights Act, leading to investigations and sanctions against Harvard and other prestigious schools.
In August of this year, Trump further demanded that all US universities publicly disclose admission rates, enrollment numbers, average GPA, and SAT scores categorized by race and gender. This move is seen as a significant step towards promoting transparency in higher education and opposing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
In recent years, many highly competitive universities have dropped the SAT admissions requirement in favor of personal essays or statements, sparking concerns that this shift could be used for ideological screening.
Matthew Beienburg, Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute, a US think tank, remarked that these changes are actually aimed at maintaining a system of racial preferences. He previously told The Epoch Times, “The left believes that standardized tests perpetuate racial inequality, hence they strongly advocate replacing tests with personal essays.”
According to Harvard’s data, a total of 47,893 people applied for admission this year, with 2,003 being accepted and 1,675 enrolling as freshmen, yielding an admission rate of approximately 4.2%. Nearly half of the students admitted are eligible for full tuition waivers. International students make up 15% of the freshmen class, hailing from 92 countries and all 50 states of the US.