Asian Americans Make Up 43% of Harvard's Incoming Class, Nearly Double the Share Five Years Ago

Changes in U.S. College Admissions After the End of "Affirmative Action"

The proportion of Asian American students in Harvard University's incoming class has reached a 10-year high. The student body appears to be changing following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional.

On Wednesday (local time), Bloomberg reported, citing admissions data Harvard University released the previous day, that Asian Americans accounted for 43% of this year's incoming class. That was up 2 percentage points from 41% last year. Bloomberg said the share of Asian American students in the incoming class was the highest in 10 years and had nearly doubled in five years.

Harvard students nearing graduation. Harvard University.

By contrast, the share of incoming students who identified as African American or Black fell to 9.3% this year from 11.5% last year, a decline of 2.2 percentage points. The proportion of Black students in the incoming class continued to fall for a third consecutive year.

U.S. universities have long used affirmative action in admissions, considering applicants' race to promote diversity in their student bodies.

Critics argued that the process favored some minority applicants, including Black and Hispanic students, while putting White and Asian applicants at a relative disadvantage, leading to lawsuits.

Harvard University later became a major target of higher education reforms pursued by the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration has criticized Harvard University's response to antisemitism as inadequate and has also challenged its diversity policies and alleged political bias. It sought to cut federal funding to Harvard University and restrict its enrollment of international students. Bloomberg reported that the conflict continues, as Harvard University filed a lawsuit in response.

Meanwhile, international students accounted for 15% of Harvard University's incoming class this year, unchanged from last year. The total number of applicants exceeded 55,000, up 15% from the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.