Bloomberg Línea — For the second year in a row, admissions of Blacks and Latinos to Harvard College, the undergraduate school of the famed university, fell by 15.3% and 11.3%, respectively, causing concern among experts at a time when the US Supreme Court has been debating the issue of affirmative action.
Students enrolled this year come from all 50 US states and 102 countries. International students make up 14.5%, and 8.3% have dual nationality.
In terms of diversity 15.3% were African American/Black; 29.9% Asian American, 11.3% Latino, 2.2% Native American and 0.5% Native Hawaiian.
In terms of gender, women represent 53.6% of all acceptances.
In a The Harvard Crimson story referred by NBC News, Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons notes that this “has been part of a long-term trend” (...). “The percentages have been steadily rising. It’s no surprise.”
“There are a couple of possible reasons for this, Julie Park, an associate professor at the University of Maryland who studies racial equity in higher education told NBC News. One could be an increase in Asian-American heritage, which favors the children of Harvard alumni in the admissions process. It also coincides with a growth in the population of Asian-American young adults and high school graduates in the U.S. in general.”
As highlighted from Harvard, the institution has offered regular admission to 1,220 applicants for the Class of 2027, with 1,942 admitted overall. The total number of applications for the Class of 2027 was 56,937.
The university officially reports that the cost of attending Harvard, which includes tuition, room, board and fees, will be free for families with an annual income of less than $85,000, reaching almost 25% of the students.
For students not receiving aid, the total cost of attendance will increase by 3.5%, over last year, to $79,450 for the 2023-2024 academic year.
What is affirmative action?
The US Supreme Court is debating whether or not to end affirmative action in the admission of students to universities. This policy, which seeks to promote diversity and inclusion in higher education, could limit the ability of children of alumni and athletes to be admitted because of this status.
Affirmative action, implemented in 1978, seeks to correct inequalities (gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, among others), so that certain groups have access to higher education.
This instrument can be applied in different ways: through a minimum number of places for certain disadvantaged groups; the awarding of extra points in the selection process; and orientation programs to face a traditional admission process.According to a Georgetown University study reported by Bloomberg, the proportion of African-American and Latino students admitted to selective schools under an alternative admissions process that takes into account socioeconomic status, for example, would only exceed current levels if schools eliminated preferences for the children of alumni and athletes.