Harvard University has recorded a decline in the enrollment of Black, Latino and international freshman students. The news comes as the institution has been in a legal battle with the Trump administration regarding a research funding freeze and DEI policies.
Enrollment of Black, Latino and international students has decreased while the number of Asian students has increased at Harvard
Less than 12% of newly enrolled undergraduate students identify as Black as opposed to 14% in 2024, according to data released by the school on Thursday. The share of Hispanic and Latino students has decreased to 11% as opposed to 16% last year, while 15% of freshmen are international compared to 18% in 2024 and 16% the year prior.
In contrast, the number of Asian students enrolled has increased from 37% in 2024 to 41% this year. The number of white freshmen enrolled in the class of 2029 was not disclosed.
“The Class of 2029 was drawn from big cities and small towns, suburbs and farms, and from nations around the world, and all students, no matter where they’re from, where they went to high school, or what their personal circumstances might be, were admitted to Harvard because they share the extraordinary potential to change the world,” William Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a statement. “Amid several seismic shifts in higher education admissions over the past few years, as well as the effects of COVID, the Class of 2029 enters Harvard as worthy successors to the generations of students who’ve come before them.”
Why have student demographics changed this year at Harvard?
There are several reasons that may explain these changes. First, 8% of students declined to disclose their race and ethnicity in their applications. Students were also allowed to select more than one race.
Then, Harvard received fewer applications for the class of 2029 than usual, according to The Washington Post. Still, the university received nearly 48,000 applications and accepted 4% of them. Harvard said that four in five students who received acceptance letters agreed to attend.
The class of 2029 is also the first class to be admitted after the institution reinstated requirements for applicants to submit standardized test scores from the SAT or ACT.
Harvard has been at the center of a legal battle with the Trump administration since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to strike down affirmative action in 2023. The university filed two lawsuits against the administration after it froze over $2 billion in federal research grants because of its alleged noncompliance with DEI policies and lack of crackdown on antisemitism during campus pro-Palestinian protests.
In September, a federal district judge ruled that the Trump administration wasn’t allowed to withhold funding. The administration said it would appeal the ruling, per The Washington Post.
The Trump administration has also threatened to take away Harvard’s tax-exempt status and previously attempted to block the enrollment of international students.