This week in college admissions, Yale will increase its undergraduate class size, legacy admissions are on the decline, the NCAA settled a NIL lawsuit, state funding for higher education jumped 4.3%, and West Point disbanded a dozen student affinity groups.
Beginning this fall, Yale College will increase its class size by 100 students per year. The increase will result in a total of 1,650 students per class and, eventually, a total undergraduate population of 6,600 students.
Over half of the colleges and universities that once practiced legacy admissions have stopped doing so in the past decade. This shift is likely the result of increased political pressure to end legacy admissions, with more states such as California, Illinois, Maryland, and Illinois banning the practice.
The NCAA settled a lawsuit over its rules prohibiting name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation for recruited athletes. The lawsuit, filed last year, argued that the NCAA was unfairly restricting how student athletes can commercially use their NIL. While the final settlement terms have yet to be announced, the NCAA agreed to a deal that will protect athletes’ NIL rights during recruitment.
State funding for higher education institutions jumped 4.3% for fiscal year 2025 and is up by one-third from five years ago. California and Texas led in total higher ed funding, at $22.3 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively. Only nine states decreased their funding.
West Point disbanded a dozen campus affinity groups centered on ethnicity, gender, race, and sexuality in response to the Trump administration’s push to eliminate government diversity programs. The disbanded groups included the Asian-Pacific Forum Club; Society of Women Engineers Club; and Spectrum, a gay-straight alliance.
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