Black enrollment at elite US colleges drops sharply after AFF ban, AP analysis finds

Black student enrollment at many of the nation’s most selective colleges has dropped sharply in the two years following the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action in admissions, an Associated Press analysis finds. On several campuses, Black students now represent as little as 2% of incoming freshmen. The Associated Press examined data from 20 selective colleges that released figures this fall. Almost all reported a smaller share of Black students in 2025 than in 2023, with some declines approaching half of the previous year’s numbers. Black enrollment trends across selective colleges Among the institutions analysed, Columbia University reported a decrease from 20% to 13%, while Harvard University’s Black enrollment fell from 18% to 11.5%. Emory University dropped from 13% to 1