A Record Number of Black Freshmen Expected at the University of Chicago This Fall

Over the years the University of Chicago has been a laggard in enrolling African-American undergraduate students. In 2005 blacks were only 4.9 percent of the incoming class. But then new measures were put in place to increase the number of black students. An overnight recruiting effort for black students was launched during the fall semester. In addition, a new scholarship program for students in the Chicago public school system began to funnel a significant number of black students to the university.

Now the University of Chicago reports that the undergraduate class entering this fall will be the most diverse in the university’s history. The university reports that the incoming class will have record numbers of African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and international students. In addition, the percentage of students who come from low-income families will increase by 28 percent.

Preliminary data shows that there will be about 110 black first-year students in the Class of 2012 at the University of Chicago. In the class entering the university in the fall of 2007, there were 91 black students who comprised 6.8 percent of the incoming class. Since 2005 the number of black freshmen at the university has nearly doubled.

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