The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says enrolments of students from diverse cultural backgrounds have slumped, following a recent Supreme Court ruling on banning affirmative action.
Last year, America’s top court banned ‘affirmative action’ — prohibiting publicly-funded(including MIT) from factoring in race when considering future student applications for enrolments.
MIT said the number of first-year Black students has decreased by two-thirds, down from 15% in 2023 to 5% of total enrolments this year.
Affirmative action
In the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that universities could factor in prospective students’ race when considering enrolment applications.
Several American universities introduced affirmative action programs following the ruling.
Affirmative action aims to correct historic prejudice by actively considering diversity when looking at applicants.
Ban
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An organisation called ‘Students for Fair Admissions’ filed a lawsuit against Harvard in 2014. It alleged that affirmative action practices negatively discriminated against White and Asian American students.
The group was led by Edward Blum, a conservative activist, who also launched similar legal action against the University of North Carolina.
In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 in favour offrom uni admissions.
MIT
MIT is the first university to releasesince the Supreme Court ban on affirmative action.
Fewer than 18% of its new students are Native American, Hispanic, Black, or Pacific Islander, according to self-reported figures. That’s compared to 34% in last year’s incoming class.
However, there was a 7% increase in Asian American first-year enrolments in 2024, compared to the previous year.
