As the new school year begins, enrollment of black students at many elite colleges is declining

The first-class of freshmen is entering college since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative motion last year — and many elite colleges have already seen declines in black student enrollment.

After the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a decline in black student enrollment, two more schools in the state reported the same. Amherst College and Tufts University, each in Massachusetts, in addition to the University of Virginia, reported declines in black student enrollment of various degrees. Boston schools were hit harder, with black student enrollment at Amherst falling by a full 8%, based on the report. New York Times (NOW).

Initially enacted in 1965 and updated in 1968 to incorporate gender, affirmative motion provided equal employment opportunities regardless of race, sex, religion, and national origin. Affirmative motion in higher education ensured that every one students received fair consideration for admission.

As the NYT further reports, many of the nation’s most elite and selective colleges haven’t yet released their data. Enrollment numbers for other races have also not been widely reported. But the data don’t bode well for what this might mean for black enrollment.

Meanwhile, based on a recent study conducted by Boys and Men’s Institute of AmericaHistorically, black colleges and universities have experienced declining enrollment of black men. The report found that black men now make up 26% of the HBCU student population, down from 36% in the mid-Seventies.

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According to the study’s authors, there are several aspects which have led to the decline in Black HBCU enrollment, including an absence of proper K-12 integration. “Targeted interventions in K-12 education in Black communities, increasing the representation of Black male teachers, and expanding funding opportunities for HBCUs and their potential students can all help increase Black male enrollment,” the authors wrote, adding, “Reforms in these critical areas can help HBCUs realize their full potential to support the educational and economic advancement of Black males.”

The study also found multiple advantages of an HBCU education, including the undeniable fact that HBCUs usually tend to enroll students from lower-income families than non-HBCUs, and such students are nearly twice as prone to advance economically.

As PWIs and other non-HBCUs grapple with the lack of affirmative motion, it’ll be interesting to see what impact this could have on HBCU student enrollment.

While more data is needed to completely understand the picture that is potentially being painted, college admissions are also bracing for a steep decline in enrollment across the country for a spread of reasons. Younger generations are selecting vocational programs as an alternative of four-year colleges in greater numbers. Many are dropping out of college and entering the job market, citing the high cost of higher education. Not to say the undeniable fact that falling birth rate in americathere’ll simply be fewer young adults.

When the positive discrimination ban was first introduced last year, many black leaders in higher education spoke out to warn of the potential consequences.

Carlotta Berry, a black professor living in Indiana, he said at that point“When I sit down and think about the amount of microaggressions and bias that I’ve experienced, even in a world where affirmative action is in place, I just don’t want to imagine what black and brown students might be experiencing right now, when they go from being one of two or three to possibly one of one.”