Applications to Harvard College fell by about 5 percent this year, a small decline that comes after a tumultuous year at the school marked by the dramatic downfall of its president and a Supreme Court defeat.
Some 54,008 students applied to be in Harvard’s class of 2028, the college said, down from 56,937 last year. The 3.59 percent acceptance rate was the highest the college has recorded in four years, according to The Harvard Crimson. It comes amid intense scrutiny around the college’s handling of antisemitism allegations on campus in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
The decline in applications to the U.S.’ richest university came even as other elite schools saw their applications increase. Dartmouth and Yale enjoyed record application rates, both increasing their tallies by around 10 percent from last year, according to The New York Times. Columbia University, which also came under pressure over student protests, saw its applicant numbers increase by about 5 percent, while the University of Pennsylvania, M.I.T., and the University of Virginia increased their applicant pools.
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It’s not clear what may have caused the decline at Harvard. Applications to Brown University also fell by around 5 percent, which was nevertheless the third-largest number the school has received in its history.
The Harvard application dip comes as the school’s leadership has been forced to respond to a string of potential threats to its reputation in recent months. Claudine Gay resigned from her post as Harvard’s president in early January amid plagiarism allegations that surfaced in the aftermath of a congressional hearing on antisemitism that had itself sparked uproar.
Her tenure as president—the shortest in Harvard’s history—had been plunged into crisis when a coalition of pro-Palestine student groups issued a letter soon after the Hamas attacks saying it held “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” Powerful alumni and donors strongly criticized the university’s response to the matter.
Gay’s resignation came after Elizabeth Magill, UPenn’s then president, stepped down just four days after she also testified at the congressional hearing on antisemitism.
Harvard nevertheless celebrated a “fourth consecutive year” where the school has received more than 50,000 applications. “Beyond another strong applicant pool, we are delighted by the stunning array of talents and lived experiences the Class of 2028 will bring with them from throughout the United States and around the world,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid.
The class of 2028 is the first admissions cycle since Harvard’s defeat in a Supreme Court ruling which ended affirmative action in college admissions.
