A report from Yale University released Wednesday detailing the racial and ethnic makeup of the incoming freshmen class revealed no significant difference, a surprise for educators and lawmakers who expressed concern over student diversity following the banning of affirmative action in 2023.
African American students comprise 14% of the class of 2028 — the same as the class of 2027, who applied while affirmative action was still in use. The percentage of Hispanic or Latino students rose by 1%, now 19% of the total freshmen class. Asian American representation decreased from 30% for the class of 2027 to 24% this year. The Native American population stayed the same, at 3%. White representation rose, from 42% for the class of 2027 to 46% for 2028.
Similarly, an announcement from the University of Connecticut said that approximately 27% of the incoming 2028 Storrs students come from races or ethnicities traditionally underrepresented in higher education, compared to nearly 30% of the class of 2027.
Richard Sugarman, the president of the Connecticut college success program, Hartford Promise, said throughout last year’s application cycle, he still has concerns over the banning of affirmative action.
“It's a mixed bag. I do think that a lot of schools made a much deeper effort and a much broader effort to form relationships with organizations like ours, and to form relationships with many of those students… I think that some schools worked really hard at it, but maybe their results don't show.”
Sugarman said it’s early yet to determine the long-term effects of repealing affirmative action, and still worries for the discouragement students from underrepresented backgrounds in education could face when applying for college.
“What does this do to students' expectations of themselves or their willingness to try?” he said. “These are elite, highly selective schools… What will this do to students, aspirations, expectations, pursuit of dreams, recognition of their own talent?”
Amherst College and Tufts University, both in Massachusetts, saw a decline in the racial diversity of their incoming classes; Amherst, in particular, saw a drop in Black representation from 11% in the class of 2027 to only 3% in the class of 2028.
