UNC Chapel Hill’s incoming class is less diverse after Supreme Court affirmative action ruling

 By Christine Zhu

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s newest class is less diverse following the Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action ruling, according to its latest student enrollment data released this week.

The percentage of first-year and transfer students identifying as white or Asian increased this year from 88.5 percent to 89.6 percent, compared to the fall 2023 report.

Meanwhile, the number of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students declined from 22.9 percent to 19 percent.

The numbers add up to more than 100 because some students identify as more than one race or ethnicity.

It’s the first school year since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions across the country in lawsuits centered on UNC and Harvard University.

“It’s too soon to see trends with just one year of data,” UNC vice provost for enrollment Rachelle Feldman said in a written statement. “We are committed to following the new law. We are also committed to making sure students in all 100 counties from every population in our growing state feel encouraged to apply, have confidence in our affordability and know this is a place they feel welcome and can succeed.”

In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the justices ruled in June 2023 that race-conscious college admissions programs violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

The biggest increase was among Asian students, making up 24.8 percent of the incoming class in fall 2023 and 25.8 percent in fall 2024.

The percentage of students identifying as Black had the largest decrease, going from 10.5 percent in 2023 to 7.8 percent in 2024. This 2.7 percent shift was the only change of more than one percentage point.

The number of white students increased slightly from 63.7 percent to 63.8 percent, and Pacific Islander enrollment increased from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent.

Hispanic enrollment declined from 10.8 percent to 10.1 percent while Native American enrollment dropped from 1.6 percent to 1.1 percent.

UNC’s incoming class includes 4,641 first-year students and 983 transfer students, according to the report. Of these, 4,608 students are from North Carolina, while 1,016 are out-of-state or international students.

The university received a record 73,192 total applicants, marking a 15.8 percent increase from 63,217 in 2023.

The students hail from 95 counties in North Carolina, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 79 countries around the world.

This article originally appeared in the NCNewsline on September 6th, 2024

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