Class of 2028 demographics show 4 percentage point decline in Black student enrollment

Preliminary data from the University of Miami shows that the number of black students for the class of 2028 has fallen from 9% to 5%, the first class to be affected by the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action and prevented a race-based admissions process.

UM’s demographics now reflect a more prominent Hispanic population, which increased 4% from the Class of 2027, bringing the total of Hispanic freshmen to 28%. Asian student enrollment continued to decline to 6%, a 9 percentage point drop from the enrolled Class of 2020.

Over the past decade, the number of black students peaked in 2019 and 2020 at 11% and has since hovered between 9 and 10%.

The percentage of white students also declined slightly, from 55% to 52%. This is consistent with data from the past decade, when white enrollment fluctuated between 50% and 56%.

Students who identified as two or more races or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander remained at 5% and less than 1%, respectively. Another 4% of students chose not to identify their race.

Overall, UM’s diversity numbers have remained the same as in previous years: 44% of first-year students are students of color and 53% are white, non-Hispanic students.

UM attributes these changes at least in part to the Supreme Court ruling that affirmative action violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The University of Miami anticipated some variation in the composition of our student body following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the summer of 2023 that prohibited colleges and universities from considering race in the admissions process,” UM said in a statement to The Hurricane.

UM’s enrollment demographics follow a wave of similar data released by several other U.S. universities. In the past month, Harvard University announced a 4 percentage point drop in black enrollment, Brown University dropped 6 percentage points, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology dropped 10 percentage points.

But the impact of the new admissions process has not been consistent. Yale University’s black enrollment has remained the same, while Duke University’s has increased. Brown and MIT have seen declines in Hispanic enrollment, while Harvard’s Hispanic population has increased, similar to UM’s.

Different methodologies for calculating percentages and regrouping racial categories have also distorted the validity of the data released by colleges. For example, Harvard caused confusion after recalculating its class of 2027 data to include only students who reported their race, reflecting a new total of 96%. This increased the black enrollment from the previous year. This updated calculation also did not include international students, adding more contingency to the process. Previously, Harvard had a standard of including both international students and non-reporting students in its calculations.

In anticipation of the impact on the admissions process, UM revised its supplemental admissions essay for the class of 2028. The goal was to provide students with a place to showcase their diversity and to combat the omission of racial data from the process.

The new essay describes the importance of diversity to the city of Miami and the university, after which candidates are asked to: “Describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive university community.”

At a student leadership dinner on September 5, students voiced their concerns about these effects to Acting President and CEO Joe Echevarria and Vice President of Student Affairs and Alumni Engagement Patricia Whitely. The two acknowledged the decline in black students and assured that they would work with the admissions office to adapt to the university’s new admissions rules.

“The university prides itself on being a diverse and inclusive community, and building an institution based on these values ​​remains a top priority,” UM continued in its statement to TMH.

The above mentioned data will be officially confirmed after the admission count of September 19.