University of Miami’s Class of 2028 enrollments show sharp 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 from 24% to 28%. Asian student enrollment continued to decline to 6%, a 9 percentage point drop from the freshman class that enrolled in 2017.

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 52% 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 a 6 percentage point drop, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a 10 percentage point drop.

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 it recalculated data for the class of 2027 and omitted international students from its total 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 a decline in black enrollment 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 the audience 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 which will be held on September 19.

The story was originally published by The Miami Hurricanethe student magazine of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, as part of an editorial partnership with the WLRN newsroom.