Vanderbilt University Makes Solid Progress in Enrolling Black Students

This fall, Vanderbilt admitted 18 percent of all applicants. It was the most selective class in the university’s history.

There are 179 black freshmen on campus this fall. They make up 11.2 percent of the first-year class. Last year there were 125 black freshmen at Vanderbilt. They were 7.8 percent of all first-year students.

One reason for the significant 43 percent increase in black freshmen is the university’s new financial aid program which converted loans for low-income students to outright scholarship grants. This produced a sharp jump in black applicants and increased black student yield.