Common App Report Shows Growth, Particularly Among Minority Applicants

The number of first-year college applicants grew across the board during the 2023–24 application cycle, according to the latest end-of-season report from the Common App. Over all, about 1.43 million distinct applicants submitted 9.47 million applications, an increase of 7 percent and 11 percent, respectively, from the 2022–23 cycle. Some of the biggest growth was in the number of historically underrepresented student applicants. American Indian and Alaskan Native applicants saw the most significant increase at 15 percent, but the number of Latinx and Black applicants also rose, by 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The number of applicants from ZIP codes that have a median income below the national average also shot up year over year by 12 percent.