What Happened to Enrollment at Top Colleges After Affirmative Action Ended

After the Supreme Court ended race-conscious college admissions in 2023, the 2024-25 academic year was seen as a kind of test: What effect would the decision have on freshman classes? At the start of the school year, the Upshot asked selective colleges for the racial and ethnic composition of their incoming classes. We obtained this data for 66 colleges, allowing us to put together the most detailed look yet at how the makeup of these colleges changed after the end of affirmative action. While it’s still early to draw definitive conclusions — it will be years before we understand the full impact of the ban — here are three things we learned.