The Liberal Arts Colleges With the Highest Black Student Yields in First-Year Admissions

According to the latest JBHE survey of black first-year students at the nation’s highest-ranked liberal arts colleges, Wellesley College, the prestigious college for women in Massachusetts, has the highest black student yield (the percentage of all accepted students who decide to enroll). More than 42 percent of accepted black students decided to enroll at Wellesley this fall. This is up from 33.9 percent last year. At Bucknell University in Pennsylvania nearly 42 percent of all accepted black students decided to enroll. This is an increase from a black student yield of 32.5 percent two years ago. At 36.3 percent, Bowdoin College and Grinnell College tied for the third-highest black student yield among the nationally ranked liberal arts colleges.

The lowest black student yield among the high-ranking liberal arts colleges was at Macalester College. Only 16.7 percent of the black students who were accepted at Macalester decided to enroll. A year ago, the black student yield at Macalester was 26.2 percent. Colby College showed a drop in black student yield from 30 percent to 18.2 percent.