Students from underrepresented racial backgrounds were half as likely to gain admission to the University of Wisconsin at Madison this year compared to last year, data released Monday showed.
The acceptance rate for underrepresented students of color — which at UW-Madison includes non-international African American, Southeast Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Native American students — fell to 42 percent from nearly 80 percent. For African American students, the acceptance rate dropped to 34 percent from 51 percent. The acceptance rate for all students in 2024 was 45 percent, two points higher than the previous year.
Wisconsin’s data paints an unusually detailed picture of a selective college’s first cycle without race-conscious admissions, a practice barred by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year. Prior to the ruling, acceptance rates for underrepresented students of color at Wisconsin had gone up nearly every year since 2015.
Over the past year, selective colleges have been forced to stop considering race as one factor in admissions decisions, a practice that many institutions had used to increase diversity on their campuses. Critics had feared that enrollment rates for underrepresented students would drop sharply. So far, the evidence is a mixed bag: Some highly selective colleges have reported declines in Black and Hispanic enrollment, while others have not.
UW-Madison is the only institution among more than 30 colleges reviewed by The Chronicle to have posted demographic information for its applicants and admitted students, providing insight into how students of color fared in the admissions process. UW-Madison also posted historical data from 2015 to the present, highlighting the stark changes that occurred between 2023 and 2024.
The sharp one-year decline in admission rates for underrepresented students of color was the first significant decrease for that group since 2015.
Admission rates for Hispanic or Latino/a students and African American students each fell by roughly 17 percentage points, while the number of applicants from both groups increased by several hundred. For white students, the admission rate went up to 48 percent from 41 percent. The admission rate for Asian American students increased only marginally, to 52 percent from 51 percent.
The share of first-year students identifying as underrepresented students of color decreased by four percentage points this fall, dropping to 14 percent from 18 percent. The sharp decline in admission rates for that group was offset somewhat by a four-point increase in the number of admitted underrepresented students who chose to enroll.
The number of applicants marking their ethnicity as “unknown” increased dramatically, from roughly 2,000 to 3,000. But the representation of “unknown” students in the fall class was around 4 percent, only slightly higher than the typical share over the last decade.
James Murphy, director of career pathways and postsecondary policy at Education Reform Now, a nonprofit group that advocates for more equitable admissions practices, urged caution in drawing conclusions from the data, as other factors — such as the botched rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — could affect admissions outcomes. Nevertheless, “it is impossible to look at these numbers and not see the impact of Students For Fair Admissions,” Murphy said, referring to the Supreme Court decision.
Significant changes in the admission rate, Murphy said, were unlikely to be due only to financial factors. The increases in applications to UW-Madison from African American and Hispanic students, Murphy said, suggest that, on at least one campus, the feared “chilling effect” of the Supreme Court’s decision on applications from underrepresented students did not materialize.
Murphy praised UW-Madison for releasing granular figures on applicants and admitted students, noting that data released by other institutions has typically been far less complete.
Dominique Baker, an associate professor of education and public policy at the University of Delaware, also urged caution in drawing rapid conclusions.
“There are so many points along the way where a student who otherwise might enroll falls out of your admissions pipeline,” Baker said. “There are just an incalculable number of places where that could happen.”
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for UW-Madison directed The Chronicle to a statement posted to the institution’s website, which refers to shifts in enrollment but does not discuss the disparities in admission rates.
In the statement, UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said that the declines in representation among underrepresented students of color were “disappointing” but that the university’s “commitment to these students and their communities remains steadfast.”
