Stanford University today released preliminary enrollment data for the undergraduate Class of 2028, the first class to be admitted under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year on race-conscious admissions in higher education.

While Stanford continues to see great diversity among first-year students across many dimensions, representation of Black students and, to a lesser extent, Hispanic/Latino students fell relative to last year’s entering class. The university will continue and further expand its outreach and other activities that support the recruitment of a diverse class through legally permissible means.

“Stanford is committed to diversity broadly defined because we believe diversity of background, perspective, and experience is essential to our work of research and education,” said Stanford Provost Jenny Martinez. “We followed the law in admitting this year’s class, and it is an amazingly accomplished and inspiring class. It also is very difficult to observe the declines in representation among some of our communities. We are committed to working aggressively to continue seeking diversity through legal means, including through the further expansion of our outreach to high-achieving students from underserved populations, and to fostering community for our students here on campus.”

Stanford’s fall quarter began last week. The university typically does not issue enrollment data until the publication of the Common Data Set, which is based on enrollments several weeks into the quarter. Stanford is providing preliminary data this year due to the national interest in enrollment outcomes following the Supreme Court’s decision.

Outcomes by race, in two formats

The university is reporting its preliminary data in two ways for this fall’s first-year class of 1,704 students.

First, Stanford is reporting enrollment data in the manner it normally does, using the federal government’s reporting methodology in which a “two or more races” category counts all domestic non-Hispanic students who report being of more than one race.

Second, because many of Stanford’s peer institutions have reported data in another way – the “check all that apply” approach, in which the data show each individual race that is reported by domestic multi-racial students – the university is providing a second set of data using that approach. In this second methodology, the totals sum to more than 100% because students can identify multiple races. In both of Stanford’s data sets, international students are counted as part of the total:

All figures are preliminary and may differ from the official data provided later this year in the Common Data Set, which draws on enrollment data midway through the quarter.

“The shifts we have seen are not surprising based on the experiences of other universities that eliminated race-conscious admissions practices prior to the Supreme Court ruling,” Martinez said. “But they provide an important moment for Stanford to reaffirm, institutionally, the centrality of diversity to our mission and the importance of continuing to pursue diversity broadly defined through the means accessible to us.”

Expanding outreach, continued financial accessibility

Because of its deep and longstanding commitment to diversity, Stanford’s Office of Undergraduate Admission began preparing for the possibility of the Supreme Court’s ruling long before it occurred. The university is pursuing legal, race-neutral strategies, including expanded outreach and yield programs, to attract a student body that is diverse in background, experience, interests, and perspectives.

“We are going to be working harder than ever in communities across the country to identify competitive students and make them aware of the extraordinary opportunities available to them at Stanford,” said Richard H. Shaw, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid.

These outreach efforts include:

• Increasing in-person outreach efforts to share information with prospective students about Stanford, make sure they know about the university’s extensive need-based scholarship program, and assure them that they will be welcome and supported.
• That effort includes creating a new team of six regionally based admission officers who will enable Stanford to build deeper connections in communities around the United States. The university also is expanding the number and geographic range of its visits to local high schools, community-based organizations, and regional information sessions, as well as workshops for high school guidance counselors.
• Developing and deepening collaboration with programs that help bring talented students from around the world, regardless of background or economic means, to Stanford. Among these efforts, QuestBridge connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with opportunities in higher education; College Horizons focuses on increasing college access for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students; and the STARS College Network, a two-year-old collaboration that Stanford joined earlier this year, raises awareness of college opportunities among students from rural areas and small towns.
• Working with peer colleges and universities through a developing consortium that will focus on outreach and education efforts as well as access and affordability.
• Supporting the Stanford Digital Education initiative, which works with the National Education Equity Lab to offer college-level Stanford courses to low-income Title I high schools.
• Continuing to explore new opportunities for partnership and collaboration with community-based organizations across the country.

Among its activities going forward, Stanford also will continue to support accessibility for students of all financial means through its strong program of need-based financial aid.

Families of undergraduates with annual incomes below $100,000 do not have to pay tuition, room, or board at Stanford. Stanford also requires no parental contribution toward tuition from families with annual incomes below $150,000 and typical assets. Families with higher incomes also may receive aid based on their financial circumstances.

In addition, an internal university process is conducting a broad review of the implications of the Supreme Court ruling and of Stanford’s undergraduate admission policies in order to evaluate other potential changes.

This year’s process and other outcomes

Stanford’s admission process continues to be holistic, meaning each piece of a student’s application is reviewed as part of an integrated and comprehensive whole. This approach helps the university understand how each applicant, as a whole person, would grow, uniquely contribute, and thrive at Stanford.

Beyond race and ethnicity, the preliminary data show continued diversity across many other dimensions among Stanford’s 1,704 first-year students:

• Students in the class come from all 50 states and 70 countries. The new students speak 76 unique languages other than English.
• Among students in the class, 21% are the first in their families to attend a four-year university.
• Women represent 51% of the class and men 49%.
• 56% percent of the first-year class attended U.S. public schools, 28% attended U.S. private, parochial, or home schools, and 16% attended schools internationally.

In administering the process to admit this fall’s entering class, Stanford complied with the Supreme Court ruling, which prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s race or ethnicity for its own sake as a factor in deciding whether to admit the applicant. The ruling also prohibits universities from creating proxies for race or ethnicity. Stanford admissions staff involved in evaluating applications this year did not have access to data fields where applicants checked off their race and ethnicity.