Black, Hispanic college enrollment drops after affirmative action ruling

Black, Hispanic enrollment declines in first year after affirmative action ends

What you probably already know: The Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in the college admissions process came down in 2023, but the 2024/25 school year was the first class to be impacted by the law. New data gathered and presented by the New York Times shows that the decision is already having a significant impact on college student diversity. While the share of Black and Hispanic students has steadily risen in the last 15 years, that all stopped in 2024. The percentage of incoming Black students fell from 7% to 6% and for Hispanic students, it was down from 14% to 13%. This was the largest drop in this demographic group since 2010.

Why? The NYTimes study looked at 66 colleges, so it is not comprehensive, but it is likely these results will bear out across many U.S. campuses. The lawsuit that was brought to the courts that successfully overturned affirmative action had argued that Black and Hispanic students were getting an advantage in college admissions, and that Asian students, in particular, were being discriminated against. However, in 2024, the rate of Asian student attendance remained close to flat, indicating that they were not getting admitted at higher rates because there were fewer Black and Hispanic students.

What it means: While the numbers suggest the decision isn’t driving stronger enrollment for white and Asian students, the share of students who did not list a race on their application rose significantly — up fro 2% to 4%. Experts think it is likely many of those students are white or Asian, which could skew the overall numbers and mask increases for these ethnic groups, though no one really knows for sure.

What happens now? Attending college remains one of the best indicators of longterm financial stability. College graduates have an average net worth of $464,000 compared to $107,000 for those with a high school diploma. Meanwhile, only 11% of college graduates in the U.S. identify as Black, lower than the overall national average. These gaps may continue to widen if the trends that have started in 2024 continue.