Aug 21, 2024 Story by: Editor
Enrollment of Black and Latino students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has significantly declined in the first admissions cycle since the Supreme Court’s ruling against race-conscious admissions. The admissions department revealed that only 5% of the incoming class of 2028 is Black, down from an average of 13% in previous years. Latino students now comprise 11% of the class, a drop from the typical 15%. In total, 1,102 students make up the first-year class.
MIT’s dean of admissions, Stu Schmill, attributed this decline to the 2023 Supreme Court decision, which barred the consideration of race in the college admissions process. “We anticipated this would lead to fewer students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups enrolling at MIT,” Schmill said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”
The report also shows an increase in white and Asian American students, while the numbers of students from other racial and ethnic groups have declined, with some categories even reduced to zero.
In previous years, Black, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander students made up roughly 25% of MIT’s undergraduate student body, but that number has now dropped to 16% for the incoming class. This data release marks the first instance of a selective university publishing its enrollment statistics following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The court’s decision struck down affirmative action programs at both Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, ruling that such programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. While race can no longer be a direct factor in admissions, applicants can still discuss their racial or ethnic identities through essays, personal statements, and extracurricular activities.
MIT officials did not provide immediate comment to NBC News regarding the changes. However, in a blog post written last year, Schmill had already predicted the decline in diversity. MIT was one of several institutions that submitted an amicus brief in support of race-conscious admissions. Schmill wrote at the time, “If the Court rules in a way that limits how universities can build their communities, our commitment to diversity that enriches MIT’s education will not waver, but our ability to achieve it may change—possibly dramatically.”
Following the ruling, MIT has expanded its recruitment and financial aid efforts, focusing on low-income students from all backgrounds. Schmill emphasized that while the university no longer considers race in admissions, they seek diversity through factors like academic interests, extracurricular achievements, and students’ economic, geographic, and educational backgrounds. Source: NBC News
