Institute sees precipitous decline in racial minority enrollment for incoming class year
Schmill: “The class this year is not different in academic preparedness: it’s just less racially diverse.”
MIT’s incoming Class of 2028 is the least racially diverse in recent memory. In the Institute’s first admitted class following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action, 16 percent of students are Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander, a significant decrease from the 25 percent in an aggregated profile for the previous four classes.
Institute officials double down on commitment to talent and diversity
The numbers for the class of 2028 are in stark contrast to the class of 2027. The percentage of Black students is down three-fold to 5 percent. Hispanic and Latino students dropped to 11% from an earlier 16%. In an interview with The Tech, Stu Schmill ’86 stated that such percentages were calculated on a numerator that subsetted for U.S. citizens or permanent residents only and a denominator of the entire class. Schmill stated that “the class is more diverse than it shows.”
MIT president Sally Kornbluth released an announcement earlier in the day acknowledging the impact of the Court’s ruling on the admissions process, noting that the “impact is clear, and it is concerning.” She affirmed MIT's commitment to preserving a diverse and talented Institute, stating that the Institute “need[s] to seek out new approaches” while following the law.
In a blog post on the MIT admission’s website, Schmill wrote about his experiences as alumnus of the Institute: the shared passion for science and technology with peers drawn from across the country and the globe, the hope of bettering the nation and humanity, and the value of learning with and from the best and brightest. Schmill also highlighted the legacy put forth by former MIT president Paul Gray ’54 SM ’55 ScD ’60, as one of making the Institute a “stronger, more effective place as it draws on the full range of human talent and experience.”
Schmill spoke to The Tech just hours following the release of the composition of the 2028 class and the corresponding public messages from Kornbluth and Schmill.
With the use of race in the admissions process now banned, Schmill stated that the admissions decisions were made in the context of “opportunities in high school” and similar factors. With regards to qualitative aspects of the application, particularly essays, Schmill stated that “we’ve been reviewing the essays in the same way we ever have,” noting that MIT admissions looks for “the personal qualities that we think align with good MIT students.”
Schmill emphasized the qualifications of the incoming class, stating that “every student that we admitted and we’re enrolling are exceptional.” He said “the class this year is not different in academic preparedness: it’s just less racially diverse.” Furthermore, Schmill cited improving academic outcomes in recent years, including graduation rates and retention rates, even as MIT grew increasingly diverse. Schmill stated that “diversity and excellence coexist,” and that there’s “not trade-off” between the two.
Schmill noted a dramatic increase in the enrollment of students in the class of 2028 who were part of Questbridge, a program for low-income, high-achieving students. Over 100 were enrolled, the highest ever, and Schmill highlighted that “more than 50 students” were admitted through the match process, an increase of approximately five-fold compared to prior years.
Following reports of declining enrollment in admitted student programs such as Sin LíMITe and Ebony Affair, Schmill acknowledged that such programs faced “similar kinds of restrictions on the selection process” as undergraduate admissions. Nonetheless, Schmill said that all associated costs with the programs are covered for any student who receives financial aid. Additionally, Schmill stated that such programs, as well as the general Campus Preview Weekend, had “widen[ed] the eligibility” for participation.
Schmill highlighted numerous efforts by the admissions team to expand outreach to potential applicants. He noted a joint effort with other institutions known as the Small Town and Rural Student (STARS) College Network, to “not only recruit students for MIT, but to ensure that students in those communities are fully aware of opportunities for higher education outside their local area.” Schmill also stated that MIT admissions has increased visits to Title 1 schools as well as community colleges. Schmill affirmed an institutional commitment to maintaining and expanding ties with organizations that “connect us to high achieving students that haven't had the same opportunities as others.”
The Class of 2028 will begin its first day of classes on Sept 4. The early action deadline for the Class of 2029 is Nov. 1.
Students respond to a markedly different freshman class
In multiple conversations with The Tech following the release of the admissions data, many students pointed to growing or ongoing concerns about maintaining culture and safety for minority populations on campus. Most conversations trended towards a single term: “isolation.”
“I just really feel we need this critical mass of students on campus so they can as an entire community take up space instead of having to carve out a space for themselves,” Kyle Williams ’27 said. “You kind of feel isolated, as you know, being the minority here.”
Some students highlighted that the racial makeup of a class year was not by itself a concern, but that allowing for “diversity in general”—whether in nationality, religion, upbringing, or beliefs—was a key point in pursuing a more unified Institute. To Peyton Bryant ’27, who resides in Juniper House, the cuts in racial diversity at the Institute represented a more broad threat that was “to the detriment of all students,” not just those who identify within a particular impacted minority group.
Bryant participated in the 2023 cohort of Interphase EDGE and was a residential advisor for the program in its 2024 cohort; Bryant is also a member of the MIT Council for Advancement of Black Students (CABS).
For others, just the presence of individuals with the same race or ethnicity contributes to a sentiment of safety and belonging, which may be lost as the makeup of future class years may continue to trend against minority representation.
“It definitely is sometimes disheartening—when you are in a lecture... and it’s like, ‘Hey, Kyle, you should take a look around and count how many Black people are in the room,” Williams said. “And then I do it. And it’s like only five people in this lecture hall of like 120, 150 people.”
Williams participated in Ebony Affair as part of its 2023 cohort.
A growing concern that has been widely spread among students is in the continued existence of minority-supporting programs and cultural groups in the wake of the affirmative action ruling. The Tech previously reported on declined enrollment statistics in several admitted/incoming student programs for their Class of 2028 cohorts, such as in the case of Interphase EDGE and Sin LíMITe, as well as large-scale organizational changes in the minority-supporting Office of Minority Education (OME).
“What brought me to MIT was the strong visible presence of the Black community and tangible support for Black students through the admissions programs,” Niko Odhiambo ’25 said. “It will be harder and harder to bring Black students into MIT if administrative mishandling dilutes our presence.”
Willow Carretero Chavez ’24 held a different stance on the Institute’s numerous diversity-promoting programs.
“It's clear to me that these programs are not instituted out of a genuine desire for diversity. Though the vast majority of the people involved in implementing the policies genuinely care, the reason why these departments are afforded funding is to avoid legal and reputational liability,” Chavez said. “Now that the SCOTUS ruling made it a legal liability to implement affirmative action programs, of course they're immediately going to cut it. These initiatives weren't put in place to protect students, they were put in place to protect MIT and its image.”
Regardless of the impetus behind them, many noted their veritable impact on generating a sense of belonging within the members of an identity group. “Even before [the Supreme Court ruling], we put a lot of effort into this culture and making a space for students to feel welcomed. It’s really important. If there are few people in a community like you, you don’t feel welcomed,” LUCHA vice president and Latino Cultural Center (LCC) member Diego Caballero ’27 said.
Caballero lives in La Casa, a house within the New House community, and previously helped organize Sin LíMITe 2024.
Odhiambo participated in the Weekend Immersion in Science & Engineering (WISE) in 2020 and since coming to the Institute has participated as a mentor or host for several campus programs like Ebony Affair.
“I think campus is already a self-segregated place, by virtue of students gravitating towards people with similar experiences... Without Black community, and diversity within the Black community, the campus climate will revert to centering whiteness alone,” Odhiambo said.
Still, as with Schmill’s assertion of the Institute’s continued commitment to promoting diversity as new data revealed striking takeaways of the incoming class year, students remained hopeful.
“Although numbers decreased, that’s not going to make a marked decrease in strength and unity. Just because we are fewer doesn’t mean we are weaker,” Bryant said.