Three years after the Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action in higher education admissions, Yale University has experienced a notable decline in its share of first-year Black undergraduate students.
For the Fall 2026 semester, Yale College welcomed 1,652 first-year students to campus. Among these students in the Ivy League university’s undergraduate class of 2030, 42 percent are White, 33 percent are Asian American, 12 percent are Hispanic or Latino, 10 percent are African American, and 1 percent are Native American. International students represent 10 percent of the first-year class.
According to a report from Yale Daily News, the class of 2030 has the lowest share of African American students in the past 10 first-year cohorts at Yale. The representation of African Americans among first-year Yale students has consistently hovered around 12 percent since the class of 2021, peaking at 14 percent for the classes of 2027 and 2028. African Americans represent 12 percent of Yale’s class of 2029.
Among other racial groups, Asian American representation has increased significantly, while Hispanic, Native American, and White representation has declined.
