This week in college admissions, Harvard will not release admissions data on decision day, Brown unveils new diversity recruitment initiatives, data shows that socioeconomic diversity at elite universities has not improved over the past 100 years, and Texas and other states impose restrictions on colleges’ international work.
In a departure from decades of precedent, Harvard will not release demographic data on applicants and accepted students on the day they send out admissions decisions. Instead, data on applicants and the matriculated class will be released in October or November of the following year. Over the past few years, schools such as Stanford, Princeton, and Penn have also stopped releasing admissions data on the day they send out decisions.
Brown University is launching new initiatives intended to improve student diversity, while complying with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling striking down affirmative action. Among other things, Brown will expand outreach to new regions and encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to apply; improve financial-aid matching; and grow the university’s partnership with QuestBridge, a nonprofit for low-income students applying to selective colleges.
A recent analysis shows that the percentage of low-income students at elite universities has remained roughly the same over the past 100 years, despite policy changes such as the G.I. Bill and the introduction of standardized testing. However, the share of low-income students in the overall population of students attending college has increased significantly.
Texas has ordered new restrictions on colleges’ ties to China and other “adversarial” countries, including Cuba and Iran. Employees at public agencies, including universities, will not be allowed to accept gifts from or travel in a professional capacity to these countries. Florida has also passed laws restricting research and partnerships between public universities and “countries of concern.”
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