The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has seen a dramatic drop in the number of Black and Latino students in its incoming freshman class following last year’s US Supreme Court decision that banned race-conscious admissions policies. The ruling, which has already begun reshaping the demographic landscape of elite American universities, appears to have caused a significant shift in the racial composition of MIT’s Class of 2028.
Newly released data from MIT reveals that the proportion of Black students has fallen from 15% to just 5% in the first cohort admitted under the new admissions rules. Similarly, Hispanic and Latino representation has dropped from 16% to 11%. Meanwhile, the percentage of Asian American students has increased notably, from 40% to 47%. These figures mark the first time an elite university has publicly reported its admissions statistics since the landmark ruling in June 2023.
MIT officials expressed concern about the implications of the ruling on the diversity of their student body, a principle that the university has long championed. In a statement, MIT President Sally Kornbluth acknowledged the impact of the decision, stating, “The class is, as always, outstanding across multiple dimensions, but what it does not bring, as a consequence of last year’s Supreme Court decision, is the same degree of broad racial and ethnic diversity that the MIT community has worked together to achieve over the past several decades.”
The Supreme Court’s decision, which stemmed from lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina by the group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), found that race-conscious admissions practices were unconstitutional. The court ruled that such policies violated the US Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, fundamentally altering how universities can approach the composition of their student bodies.
The ruling has effectively dismantled affirmative action, a practice that had been used for decades to increase the representation of under-represented minority groups at selective US institutions. Some people have hailed the decision as a victory for merit-based admissions, but others have criticised it, arguing that it undermines efforts to ensure a diverse and inclusive educational environment.
Edward Blum, the conservative legal strategist who founded SFFA, welcomed the changes in MIT’s demographic profile, suggesting that they reflect a more meritocratic approach to admissions. “Every student admitted to the class of 2028 at MIT will know that they were accepted only based upon their outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements, not the colour of their skin,” Blum told The New York Times.
The decline in Black and Latino student enrollment at MIT has sparked a broader conversation about the future of diversity in higher education. Advocates of affirmative action have long argued that a diverse student body enriches the educational experience for all students by bringing a wide range of perspectives and life experiences into the classroom.
Stu Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions and student financial services, noted that the drop in diversity was anticipated but nonetheless troubling. “We expected that this would result in fewer students from historically under-represented racial and ethnic groups enrolling at MIT. That’s what has happened,” Schmill said.
The overall percentage of students who identify as Black, Hispanic, Native American, or Pacific Islander has decreased from around 25% in previous years to just 16% in the current class. This change has raised concerns among university administrators about the long-term impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the racial and ethnic composition of future student bodies.
In response to these challenges, MIT has pledged to enhance its efforts to recruit students from diverse backgrounds. President Kornbluth indicated that the university would focus on promoting its financial aid offerings and expanding access to science and math education for young students across the country. These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to address the enrollment gaps created by the new admissions landscape.
“The MIT education is strongest when our student body is, above a high bar of academic excellence, broadly diverse,” Schmill emphasised. But the current statistics suggest that achieving this goal will be increasingly difficult without the tools that affirmative action once provided.
As other universities prepare to release their own admissions data in the coming months, MIT’s experience may serve as a bellwether for the broader impact of the Supreme Court’s decision. While the debate over affirmative action is far from settled, the immediate effects on the composition of MIT’s student body are already clear. The challenge now for MIT and other institutions is to find new ways to cultivate a diverse and inclusive academic environment in a post-affirmative action era.
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