In 1975, a coalition of 15 colleges formed Common App to streamline the admission process with a standardized first-year application form for students to use when applying to any participating institution. Now, 50 years later, Common App has grown to include roughly 1,100 member institutions across the United States and around the world. Recently, the organization released a report consisting of season-end statistics for the most recent year of first-year applicants, including information on Black student applicant trends.
Overall, nearly 1.5 million student applicants submitted a total of some 10.2 million applications to colleges and universities via Common App for the 2024-2025 academic year. This is an 8 percent increase in overall total application volume compared to the 2023-2024 school year.
The number of applicants from underrepresented racial backgrounds has grown significantly faster than those of other students. Since the 2023-2024 academic year, Black student applications have grown by 12 percent – the fastest growing racial group behind Latinx students (15 percent growth). In contrast, White student applicants submitted through Common App have remained stagnant over the past year. Additionally, Black Americans’ share of the total applicant pool increased from 14.0 percent in 2023-2024 to 14.8 percent in 2024-2025, whereas White students’ share of the total applicant pool has continued to drop since at least the 2013-2014 season.
Within its form, Common App also prompts domestic students to share more detailed background information within their federal race/ethnicity grouping. Compared to the prior academic year, African American applicants grew by 14 percent, Black applicants from multiple backgrounds grew by 9 percent, Black applicants with African ancestry grew by 10 percent, and Black applicants with Caribbean ancestry grew by 8 percent.
