A team of researchers from the American Council on Education and the University of California, Los Angeles has released a new report on their findings from the 2024 CIRP Freshman Survey, the longest-running survey about the experiences and perspectives of incoming college freshman. The report draws from data on over 24,000 incoming college students, 7.7 percent of whom are Black.
Roughly half of all Black students in the 2024 entering class applied to seven or more institutions. Nearly three-quarters of Black students were accepted into their first-choice institution, but only 44.2 percent went on to attend their first-choice school. In comparison, a similar share of White students were accepted to their preferred school, but a significantly larger share (68.7 percent) attended their top choice.
Among all members of the 2024 entering class, over half expressed some concern with the financial impact of attending college. However, nearly 70 percent of Black students and over 80 percent of Hispanic students reported concerns about paying for college. Nearly two-thirds of Hispanic students and 56.9 percent of Black students relied on need-based grants and scholarships to attend college, compared to just 29.6 percent of White students.
The survey also revealed racial disparities in entering students’ civic engagement. Almost two-thirds of Black first-year students disagreed with the statement that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in the United States, compared to just over a third of White students. Black students were more likely to be motivated to correct social inequalities, with 67.2 percent reporting this work as essential. Only 40.8 percent of White students held the same sentiment. Furthermore, Black students were more likely than their peers from other racial backgrounds to express commitment in working to achieve gender equity.
Notably, the report also found racial differences in how the entering class of 2024 spent their time outside of class. Almost two-thirds of White students could afford to spend six or more hours per week on exercising or playing sports, compared to 43.5 percent of Black students and 37.7 percent of Hispanic students. Black and Hispanic students were significantly more likely to spend six or more hours per week on household chores or childcare duties compared to White students.
The CIRP Freshman survey is administered annually by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), a partnership between the American Council on Education and the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. HERI is housed within UCLA’s Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.
