This past fall’s incoming freshman class became the first in six decades to be admitted without regard for the controversial race-based admissions laid out in Affirmative Action legislation. While the impact of this change is not fully conclusive, early data shows a shift in demographics at both selective and more attainable universities.
On June 29, 2023 the Supreme Court struck down Affirmative Action in college admissions on the basis of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The ruling came after Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), a nonprofit organization that believes “a student’s race and ethnicity should not be factors that either harm or help that student to gain admission to a competitive university,” challenged Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
Affirmative Action was originally set into motion in the 1960s with the intent of primarily helping African-Americans.
“The concept was making sure there was representation,” said Dr. Marcus Allen, assistant professor of history at UWM, “not just in the workplace but especially in education.”
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Impact on Student Enrollment
Affirmative Action evolved over time, according to Allen, and remains in place in other spheres outside college admissions, such as academia, government jobs and the corporate world. Students admitted to universities last fall – the class of 2028 – are the first affected by this ruling.
“UWM does not anticipate this decision to significantly impact our admissions practices,” said UWM Chancellor Mark Mone at the time of the ruling. However, the university indicated that it “modified its admissions policies and practices to comply with this decision.”
The UW-Milwaukee admissions department declined an interview request, saying they do not yet have a full picture of impact.
Black and Hispanic enrollment at UW-Milwaukee increased for fall 2024, while Asian enrollment dropped. Overall enrollment increased by just 1.2% at the university.
Black enrollment at UWM increased by 46.2%. This came a year after a 35.9% increase in Black enrollment. The previous 10 years having no more than a 15.4% increase.
Hispanic enrollment at the university increased by nearly 7%, a continuation of the recent trend of a gradual uptick in the demographic. Each of the past four years have included nearly 7% more Hispanic students than the prior fall.
Asian enrollment dropped by nearly 20% in fall 2024, one year after seeing an increase of nearly 20% in 2023.
“Many Asians are counted when it suits the institution to count them,” said Rina Ghose, Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and member of the Affirmative Action in Faculty Employment Committee (AAFEC) at UWM.” But they’re not actually considered to be protected minorities at all.”
Affirmative Action also serves women, who recently made up 58% of all college students according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
The data at UWM indicates the inverse of the Supreme Court’s findings on the Harvard admissions process. Yet some are still concerned that long term this decision will impact opportunities for students of color.
“It just makes it a lot harder,” said Charmeka Wells, vice president of the Minority Media Association at UWM. “In urban Milwaukee, it’s already hard enough for students of color to get a proper education due to segregation and a lack of funding within the schools… There are barriers that students have to constantly keep jumping over.”
Other students see getting rid of affirmative action as a positive for universities and a means of more merit-based admissions.
“I think diversity is a huge thing,” said Elliot Sgrignuoli, president of Marquette College Republicans, who himself is of Hispanic descent. “I just don’t think people should be rewarded simply to fill in a quota.”
UW-Madison, the most selective school in the state, accepts students at a rate of 43% per US News. (UW-Milwaukee’s acceptance rate, for comparison, is 95%.)
UW-Madison publicly said it factored race into the admissions process prior to the ruling but no longer does, according to Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin in response to the decision.
While UWM saw increases across minority groups, UW-Madison saw a decrease in all minorities, including a 33.3% drop in incoming freshman Black students in fall 2023 versus fall 2024. Hispanic enrollment dropped by 15.8%.
And while UW-Madison’s overall enrollment dropped by 6.1%, the number of white students remained steady from the previous fall.
Vox reported earlier this year that universities such as MIT, Washington University in St. Louis and Tufts University all saw significant drop-offs in Black enrollment. All three universities have acceptance rates below 12%. Likewise, the more selective UW-Madison declined enrollment to a higher percentage of minorities, who instead enrolled in less selective universities like UW-Milwaukee.
What About Financial Aid and Hiring Decisions?
Though the decision struck down race-based admissions, it did not impact financial aid or scholarships. Additionally, the university still uses Affirmative Action in its hiring decisions of faculty, though with questionable effectiveness.
“What we’re hearing is that the student population is getting diverse, but our faculty are not reflective of that diversity,” said Canan Bilen-Green, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and member of the AAFEC.
Affirmative action is divided into five racial categories – White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian/Native Alaskan and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander along with one ethnic category – Hispanic/Latino. Many believe the large categories lack nuance in their characterization of people.
“Pure race and ethnicity white washes out all of those who are of European descent,” said Monna Arvinen-Barrow, associate professor of athletic training and sport psychology and member of the AAFEC. “Not everybody identifies as White American.”
The same can be said about Asians, a group that includes the high-earning Indian Americans or Hmong Americans, many of whom arrived as refugees. Indian Americans out-earn Hmong Americans by over $50,000 per year, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
“These intricacies are lost when you have the big category,” said Nancy Bird-Soto, referring also to the diverse Hispanic community. Bird-Soto is a professor of Latin American studies who serves on the AAFEC.
No one quite knows what implications the Supreme Court decision may have on the future of college enrollment.
“There are trade-offs that come along with the decision,” said Allen. “I think you’ve got to have affirmative action because discrimination is real… I get trying to incentivize people, and I get trying to move us to a place where we don’t need certain kinds of markers, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”
