Black and Hispanic enrollment continues to fall at Johns Hopkins University

Black and Hispanic first-year enrollment at the Johns Hopkins University has fallen for the third straight year, school officials reported, as the university continues to see the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to end race-based affirmative action.

Of the 1,478 first-year students at Hopkins this fall, 43.8% are Asian American, 25.6% are white, 6.9% are Hispanic or Latino and 3.1% are Black, according to data the university published last week.

This year’s first-year class enrolled a slightly smaller proportion of Asian American students than last year’s, though they remain the largest racial group by far. Asian American enrollment skyrocketed in 2024 after the country’s highest court outlawed race-conscious college admissions.

Changes in the racial diversity at Hopkins illustrate a larger trend in higher education. Other highly selective schools, like Harvard University, Yale University and Amherst College, have also enrolled fewer Black students — and more Asian American and white students — since the Supreme Court decision three years ago.

“The drops at Hopkins have been some of the most dramatic in the country,” said Julie Park, a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, who studies race-conscious admissions.

There are also fewer international first-year students enrolled at Hopkins this year, a reflection of national policy shifts under President Donald Trump. His administration has revoked thousands of student visas — including dozens from Hopkins students — and is trying to end a long-standing rule that allows students to extend their visas until they finish their degrees. The percentage of international students in the first-year class fell from 13.5% last fall to 9.7% this fall.

This fall’s first-year students were the first incoming class since 2020 required to submit standardized test scores with their applications. Hopkins was one of many colleges to relax that requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the school reinstated it for the class of 2030.

Economic diversity at Hopkins, however, continued to climb. About 27% of students in the class of 2030 are eligible for Pell Grants, federal financial aid for low-income students. That’s the highest percentage in Hopkins history.

“Hopkins might be leaning on efforts to expand access economically, and there’s probably some hope that they would be able to preserve racial and ethnic diversity through that,” Park said. But the last few years have shown there’s no substitute for considering race in pursuit of a diverse class, she said.

University officials declined to comment for this story, but last week’s announcement said that Hopkins remains committed to “ensuring that financial circumstances do not prevent qualified students from considering a Hopkins education.”

Last fall, the university announced it would no longer charge tuition to undergraduate students from families making under $200,000 a year. Hopkins also covers room and board, plus other living expenses, for students whose families make under $100,000.

In 2018, Michael Bloomberg gave Hopkins $1.8 billion for undergraduate financial aid in what was then the largest-ever single contribution to a U.S. college or university. It allowed Hopkins to eliminate student loans.

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