Enrollments

Less Than a Third of Black Students Interested in STEMM Majors Earn STEMM Degrees Within Six Years

Roughly 52 percent of Black students applying to college through Common App express interest in majoring in STEMM disciplines. However, only 28 percent of these students go on to graduate with a STEMM degree within six years.

Morgan State University Announces Task Force to Address Recent Decline in Black Male Enrollment

“The ongoing decline in Black male enrollment at HBCUs is a clarion call for action, and we will not stand idly by," said David Wilson, president of Morgan State University. "This task force will engage in rigorous research... to ensure that more Black men not only enroll at Morgan but thrive and complete their degrees."

Graduate Enrollment Surges at Winston-Salem State University

In fall 2024, Winston-Salem State University enrolled 244 new graduate students, an increase of 31.2 percent from the prior year. The HBCU now enrolls nearly 600 graduate students.

Black Matriculants Are Down at U.S. Medical Schools

In 2024, the share of Black applicants to U.S. medical schools increased by 2.8 percent from 2023. However, the share of Black medical school matriculants decreased by 11.6 percent. Notably, there has been year-over-year progress in overall Black medical school representation, which has risen to from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 10.3 percent in 2024.

First-Year Law School Enrollments: Black Women Up, Black Men Down

In the fall of 2024, Black students made up 7.7 percent of all first-year students at law schools in the United States. Among the 2024 cohort of 3,060 entering Black students, 2,099 were women. Thus, women made up nearly 69 percent of all Black first-year law students.

Black First-Year Student Enrollment Plummets at Harvard Law

This academic year, only 19 Black students enrolled in Harvard Law's first-year class. This is the lowest number of Black first-year law students at Harvard since 1965.

Study Finds Steep Decline in Black First-Year Enrollment at Highly Selective Universities

Among highly selective institutions, Black first-year student enrollment dropped by a staggering 16.9 percent this year, the sharpest drop of any major racial group. This was the first admissions cycle since the Supreme Court ended the use of race-sensitive admissions at colleges and universities.

More Encouraging News on HBCU Enrollments

Morgan State University in Baltimore, Prairie View A&M University in Texas, the University of the District of Columbia, and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, have all reported significant increases in enrollments.

Huge Enrollment Decline at Historically Black Tennessee State University

At historically Black Tennessee State University, overall enrollments are down by 23 percent. Most strikingly, enrollments of students in first-year programs are down by more than 50 percent.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Releases Fall 2024 Enrollment Report

According to the report, Black undergraduate enrollment increased by 6.2 percent over the past two years. In comparison, total undergraduate enrollment increased by 5.2 percent and White undergraduate enrollment decreased by 2.8 percent over the same time period.

More High-Ranking Colleges and Universities Report Declines in Entering Black Students

In the aftermath of the June 29, 2023 United States Supreme Court decision banning the consideration of race in college admissions decisions, more high-ranking colleges and universities have reported a drop in Black enrollments for their entering classes this fall.

Pew Research Center Report Examines Changes in Enrollments at HBCUs

Since 1976, the share of Black student enrollment at HBCUs has increased by 15 percent, while the share of non-Black HBCU students increased by 117 percent. This has caused a decrease in Black students' overall representation at HBCUs, which has dropped from 85 percent in 1976 to 76 percent in 2022.

Many HBCUs See a Surge In Enrollments

Many of the nation's historically Black colleges and universities had a record number of applicants this past admissions cycle. And many HBCUs have reported a significant increase in enrollments this fall.

The Aftermath of the Supreme Court Ruling Outlawing Race-Sensitive Admissions

Black enrollments at many of the nation's highest ranked universities are down significantly. But some top schools have been able to maintain a diverse student body despite the Supreme Court ban of race-sensitive admissions.

HBCUs Have Experienced a Sharp Decline in Black Male Student Enrollment

In 1976, Black men accounted for 38 percent of all HBCU students. As of 2022, that rate has dropped to 26 percent. Furthermore, this share of Black male students is now roughly equal to the share of non-Black HBCU students.

Howard University Receives Record-Breaking 36,000 Applicants for Class of 2028

The class of 2028 applicant pool at Howard University increased by 4,000 applications compared to last year's class of 2027. This year, the university's acceptance rate was roughly 31 percent, down five percentage points from last year.

Enrollments Are Up in Higher Education With Black Increases Outpacing Those of Whites

For African Americans, more than 1.6 million students were enrolled as undergraduates in the fall of 2023, up 0.7 percent from the previous year. White enrollments were down by 2 percent from the fall of 2022. Black enrollments in graduate schools also increased, while White enrollments declined.

After a Sharp Drop During the Pandemic, Young Black Students Return to School

In 2020, 40.9 of non-Hispanic Black children ages 3 and 4 were enrolled in school compared to 61.7 percent in 2022. Non-Hispanic Black children ages 3 and 4 were more likely to be enrolled in school in 2022 than similarly aged children in any other major racial or ethnic group.

Black Enrollments in Graduate Education Show a Significant Decrease

Between Fall 2021 and Fall 2022, first-time graduate enrollment decreased by 7.8 percent among Black/African American students. Only 4.5 percent of U.S. citizens and permanent resident students enrolled for the first time in physical and earth sciences were Black. Blacks were 5.7 percent of first-time graduate students in engineering.

HBCUs Report Impressive Gains in Enrollments

With the recent Supreme Court decision banning race-sensitive admissions in higher education, it was expected that many Black students would turn their attention to historically Black colleges and universities. Indeed, some HBCUs have seen impressive growth.
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