Share of Black Harvard Law Students Drops in First Class After Affirmative Action Ruling

The share of Black students enrolled in Harvard Law’s J.D. Class of 2027 fell by more than 4 percentage points compared to the previous year, according to enrollment data released by the school on Monday.

The Class of 2027 was the first class admitted after the Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in university admissions.

According to the data, which was submitted to the American Bar Association, the number of Black students enrolled in HLS’s first-year class decreased from 43 students the previous year to 19.

The number of Hispanic students also decreased from 63 to 32 students — a 4.3 percentage point decrease. Meanwhile, the number of Asian students in the 1L class climbed by more than 5 percentage points, going from 103 to 132 students.

In a statement to The Crimson, HLS spokesperson Jeff Neal wrote that the data is “necessarily limited” since any trends only account for one new class at HLS.

“Harvard Law School remains committed both to following the law and to fostering an on-campus community and a legal profession that reflect numerous dimensions of human experience,” Neal wrote.

The Supreme Court decision prompted HLS to change its admissions process. This year, instead of a personal statement, applicants were required to submit both a “Statement of Purpose” and “Statement of Perspective,” in which students were asked to “share how your experiences, background, and/or interests have shaped you.”

Neal wrote that after the Supreme Court ruling, it was “understood” that the decision would impact the ability of law schools to “attract and admit a diverse cohort of students.”

Although HLS uploaded its 1L profile in August — which included data on female and LGBTQ+ enrollment — and announced in September an eight percent decline in students of color enrolled —race-specific enrollment data was only released on Monday. HLS and other law schools are required by the American Bar Association to report admissions data annually, including demographic and test score data of the incoming class.

The changes in enrollment numbers at HLS mirror similar trends at the College, where the Class of 2028 saw a four percentage point decrease in the number of Black students enrolled.

Overall, the changes mark the fewest number of Black students at HLS since the 1960s. Enrollment reached a peak in 2009 with 67 Black 1L students, but fell to just 31 by 2016. Since then, enrollment had generally increased until this year.

HLS also saw a 13 percent decrease in its number of applicants between the classes of 2026 and 2027, accounting for 1,103 fewer completed applications. However, its LSAT and GRE percentiles stayed approximately the same, with a modest increase in undergraduate GPA from 3.93 in 2023 to 3.95 in 2024.

—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.