Harvard College Class of 2030 Asian American share rises to 43.2%
Harvard College on October 27 released admissions data for Class of 2030 (matriculating in 2026). Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents who voluntarily reported race/ethnicity, the share of students self-reporting as Asian American was 43.2%, up from 41% in Class of 2029 and 37% in Class of 2028. In the same period, the share self-reporting as African American/Black was 9.3% (11.5% the year before), Hispanic/Latino was 11.4% (11% the year before), and Native American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander was about 2%; about 9% did not report race/ethnicity.
This data is the third full admissions cycle since the Supreme Court in 2023 prohibited universities from considering race in admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. Harvard’s official explanation said that race/ethnicity data apply only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who voluntarily reported, students may select multiple categories (so the percentages may overlap), and the share of students self-reporting as White was not disclosed. International students are counted separately and make up about 15%. Edward Blum, chairman of Students for Fair Admissions, said that when the group sued Harvard in 2014, Asian Americans made up about 19% of the incoming class, and that figure has now risen to more than 43%.
Original sources:
Title: Admissions Statistics | A Brief Profile of the Class of 2030 Publisher: Harvard College Publication date: 2026-10-27 URL: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/admissions-statistics Source type: university official data Verification status: visible portion of the page read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28. Supporting content: Shares by self-reported race in Class of 2030: Asian American 43.2%, African American/Black 9.3%, Hispanic/Latino 11.4%, Native American/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 2%; data limited to voluntarily reporting U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and students may select multiple categories.
Title: Black Enrollment Falls for Third Straight Year, Asian Enrollment Rises in Harvard’s Class of 2030 Publisher: The Harvard Crimson Publication date: 2026-10-27 URL: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/27/harvard-admissions-data-2026/ Source type: campus newspaper report Verification status: full text read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28. Supporting content: Asian American share rose to 43.2% (41% the year before, 37% the year before that); Black share fell to 9.3% (11.5% the year before); Hispanic/Latino 11.4%; about 9% did not report race; this was the third admissions cycle after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling.
Title: Asian-Americans in Harvard’s Incoming Class More Than Double, to 43.2 Percent Publisher: The Washington Free Beacon Publication date: 2026-10-27 URL: https://freebeacon.com/campus/asian-americans-in-harvards-incoming-class-more-than-double-to-43-2-percent/ Source type: media report Verification status: full text read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28. Supporting content: Asian American share in Class of 2030 was 43.2%; Students for Fair Admissions chairman Edward Blum said Asian Americans were about 19% when the group sued in 2014, and that figure has now risen to more than 43%.
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Harvard College no longer considers race in the admissions process after the ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The Class of 2030 data show that among U.S. citizens and permanent residents who voluntarily reported race, the share of Asian Americans rose from the roughly 30% range in the last class before the ruling to 43.2%, while the share of African American/Black students fell from about 18% before the ruling to 9.3%, and Hispanic/Latino remained around 11.4% after declining the year before. Harvard has not disclosed the share of White students, and it allows students to select multiple race categories, so the percentages can sum to more than 100%.
In terms of methodology, the race statistics cover only voluntarily reporting U.S. citizens and permanent residents, while international students, who make up about 15%, are listed separately. Compared with Class of 2029 and 2028, the Asian share has risen for three consecutive cycles, while the Black share has declined for three consecutive years. Edward Blum, chairman of Students for Fair Admissions, compared the current 43.2% Asian share with the roughly 19% share when the group sued in 2014, saying this reflects the prior role of race in admissions. Harvard itself has stressed after the ruling that it continues to comply with the law and admits students based on non-racial factors such as academic potential.
Compared with other selective universities, some schools have seen higher Asian shares and lower Black or Hispanic shares after the ruling, while others have changed little or in different directions. Harvard’s data release schedule has been adjusted to each autumn, in line with the timeline for reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. The roughly 9% of students who did not report race, along with the existence of multiple-category selections, means that an exact “single-race” share cannot be directly derived from the public data.
With the Class of 2030 data, Harvard College’s self-reported Asian American share reached 43.2% in the third cycle after race-conscious admissions were banned. The self-reported share of African American/Black students fell for a third straight cycle to 9.3%, while Hispanic/Latino remained around 11%. The official data do not include the share of White students and do not adjust for multiple selections or nonresponses, so the actual group distribution still depends on the complete demographic methodology. Blum’s comparison links the current figure to the roughly 19% at the time of the 2014 lawsuit, but the specific causal relationship still depends on changes in admissions standards, the composition of the applicant pool, and test requirements.
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After race-conscious admissions are banned, the self-reported share of Asian Americans at selective universities can continue rising over several cycles.
Official race data cover only voluntarily reporting U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and allow multiple selections, making it impossible to equate a single-category share directly with the distribution of total enrollment.
Comparing historical shares at the time of a lawsuit with current shares after a ruling can be used to argue that race previously played a role in admissions, but it does not rule out the effects of changes in the applicant pool and other standards.