The class of 2028 at WashU is the first class since 1961 to go through the admissions process without affirmative action guidelines. At the beginning of the semester, the data will be available on how the Abolition of Affirmative Action by the Supreme Court has affected the racial makeup of WashU’s newest class. Most notably, the number of students of color enrolled has declined by six percentage points.
However, the number of low- to moderate-income students or those eligible for a Pell Grant increased, and the share of students receiving financial aid increased from 42% to 48%. The number of first-generation students increased from 16% to 17%.
Leany Pino-Sanchez is a student from Puerto Rico and is studying in the class of 2028. She believes that banning positive discrimination “will lead to less diversity in prestigious schools and widen the gap between social classes.”
Affirmative action is the practice of considering an applicant’s race or ethnicity as an admissions factor. It was first introduced to increase racial and ethnic diversity in colleges.
The total number of students of color enrolled this year has fallen by six percentage points compared to last year – from 53% in the class of 2027 to 47% in the class of 2028. Further, The number of black and African-American students enrolled decreased by four percentage points compared to the class of 2027, from 11.9% in the class of 2027 to 8% in the class of 2028. The number of white students increased by one percentage point, while the number of Asian and Hispanic students each decreased by about one percentage point.
The proportion of students who did not want to reveal their race increased by four percentage points.
“Because we have a different zip code in Puerto Rico, (admissions officers) knew I wasn’t from the United States,” Pino-Sanchez said. “But I have friends in the States who couldn’t list their ethnicity on (their application), so there was no way to distinguish them unless it was in the essay.”
Affirmative action was common practice in registration offices, especially at selected universities like WashU until it was banned in June 2023. In response to the ban, WashU’s admissions office added an optional short-answer question to the application about applicants’ experiences in their community, according to Vice Provost and Director of Admissions Grace Chapin James.
“I think that (question) was a welcome opportunity for a lot of students to talk a little more about (their) race or identity in their application that they might not have done otherwise,” James said. “They definitely took advantage of that.”
James said this question not only allows applicants to highlight characteristics that would have been considered under previous affirmative action practices, but also allows them to talk about other aspects of their lives that they were previously unable to share with the admissions committee.
According to a press release from The Source, the admissions office is permitted to collect these responses because they provide contextual information about the student – in line with the Supreme Court ruling.
“Not that they identify as Latinx, for example, but how their identity has shaped their experiences, character, aspirations or opportunities,” the press release states. “And a good percentage of students agreed to give us some additional information about who they are and what motivates them.”
“I think (WashU) had good essay questions. Others were too general and I couldn’t say much about myself,” Pino-Sanchez said.
In response to the end of positive discrimination, Chancellor Andrew Martin said obligated, the Office of Admissions with additional resources to implement new programs to support communities that have historically been underrepresented at private institutions.
In addition to hiring additional admissions officers to provide outreach and recruitment services at underserved high schools, including in Georgia and Texas, a new position for an admissions officer and financial aid officer was created in the St. Louis area.
“Many students in our area don’t necessarily feel like they have opportunities at WashU, and they also often lack the support or resources to understand how to apply for financial aid at colleges. So they often rule out schools like WashU because they think those schools are too expensive,” James said.
The new dual role is designed to help local high school students understand how the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and College Scholarship Service (CSS) programs work – not just for WashU, but for all schools to which they apply.
James said students who are eligible for financial aid are often discouraged from applying to expensive private schools like WashU, even though the reduced tuition they receive is often less than what they would pay at a public school.
“(The goal is) to just talk about it and demystify the financial aid process in local high schools and in the St. Louis community to make sure people feel empowered,” James said.
