It has been more than two years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of eradicating race-based admissions in college and universities.
A new report from Class Action takes a dive into how enrollment at public and private educational institutions nationwide has changed since that ruling, writes Mike D’Onofrio for AXIOS Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania saw a decline in not only Black (9.4 percent to 8.6 percent) and Hispanic (11.5 percent to 11.3 percent) enrollment, but white students (25 percent to 21.9 percent), as well, in 2024.
However, underrepresented students of colors saw an increase in other local universities; Temple, Drexel, and Saint Joseph’s. At Temple, the Black student population increased from 20.9 percent to 29.7 percent, while the Hispanic student population grew from 11.4 percent to 12.6 percent.
These statistics are pretty much in line with national trends.
Nationally, Ivy League and other highly selective colleges and universities have seen declines in underrepresented students of color across the board. Meanwhile, other institutions have seen their enrollment numbers increase.
James Murphy, senior fellow for Class Action and lead researcher on the report, said there is no clear-cut reasoning for these enrollment changes.
“We can say what happened; it’s very hard to say why it happened,” he said.
Read more about college enrollment shifts locally and nationally at AXIOS Philadelphia.
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