Supreme Court ruling hits minority enrollment: Johns Hopkins, Georgetown see sharp drops
Supreme Court ruling leads to declines in college minority enrollment
The Supreme Court's ruling barring colleges and universities from considering race as a factor in admissions has led to noticeable changes in enrollment data at some institutions. Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University, both of which expressed disappointment in the ruling, are now reporting declines in enrollment among underrepresented minorities, including Black and Hispanic students. FOX 5's Katie Barlow has the story.
LEESBURG, Va. - Students and families across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are navigating college application season, with many seeing the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision on admissions for the first time.
The Supreme Court's ruling barring colleges and universities from considering race as a factor in admissions has led to noticeable changes in enrollment data at some institutions. Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University, both of which expressed disappointment in the ruling, are now reporting declines in enrollment among underrepresented minorities, including Black and Hispanic students.
Johns Hopkins revealed that, for the first time in many years, the percentage of underrepresented minorities in its incoming Class of 2028 "dropped significantly," falling nearly 20% compared to 2023. Georgetown also reported a decline in admitted students from historically underrepresented minorities, though specific numbers were not yet available in their public data.
At the University of Virginia (UVA), the state's flagship university, admissions noted a slight decrease in Black student enrollment. However, the enrollment of Latino students saw a two-point increase.
The Supreme Court's decision has forced higher education admissions teams to rethink their strategies. Akil Bello, Senior Director of Advocacy and Advancement at FairTest, said institutions are getting creative in how they attract students from diverse backgrounds.
"Are we going to make fee waivers available for DCPS students? Because now, if it's free to apply to Georgetown and UVA, that might change the demographic of who applies," Bello said. "Financial aid is another consideration. When you're talking about underrepresented students, those tend to be the poorest students."
Georgetown, for its part, said it was able to send out all financial aid packages on time, a challenge for many colleges after the Biden administration delayed the rollout of the federal financial aid application. The university credits its on-time aid disbursement with helping to maintain its diversity.
Meanwhile, UVA launched recruitment efforts through its All Virginia Program, targeting high schools in lower-income areas that typically see fewer college applicants. This initiative was aimed at increasing applications from underrepresented communities.