Harvard University and Williams College Report Increases in Black Students Who Accepted the Schools’ Offer of Admission

Harvard University reports that 77 percent of the students it accepted for admission in April have decided to enroll. This yield, one of the highest in the country, if not the highest, is up from 75.5 percent a year ago. Harvard says that 9.8 percent of the students who have accepted the university’s offer of admission are African Americans. In the fall of 2010, blacks were 9.3 percent of the entering class.

At Williams College, the top-rated liberal arts college in western Massachusetts, 70 African Americans are part of the incoming Class of 2015. About 550 students will enroll in the freshman class this fall. Thus, blacks are 12.7 percent of all incoming students. In the fall of 2010, 61 black first-year students enrolled at Williams. They made up 11 percent of the incoming class.