Overview
- At highly selective colleges with admit rates under 25%, underrepresented minority freshmen fell 7% versus 2022–2023 averages, including a 16.3% drop for Black students and a 1.8% decline for Hispanic students.
- The Ivy Plus group saw an 18.9% decrease in underrepresented minority freshmen, with Black students down 25.5% and Hispanic students down 14.8%.
- Across most other institution types, Black and Hispanic freshmen increased overall—up 9.2% and 9.8%, respectively—with state flagships reporting Black enrollment up 8.4% and Hispanic enrollment up 7.7%.
- The share of Black and Hispanic freshmen at institutions with graduation rates above 80% declined by 1.6 and 1.0 percentage points, respectively, reflecting early equity concerns tied to the cascade effect.
- The analysis, conducted by James Murphy for Class Action using IPEDS data from 3,200 colleges and over 3 million freshmen, notes rising race non‑disclosure and highlights local gains such as sharp increases in Black freshmen at Temple and La Salle.