Asian Americans grapple with mixed outcomes post-affirmative action

Two years after the Supreme Court banned race-conscious college admissions, Asian American students face a complex landscape of shifting enrollment patterns. Yale University’s Class of 2029, for instance, shows a 6% increase in Asian American enrollment to 30%.

Zoom in: Yale’s latest admissions data reveals shifting demographics as the university implements its new “test flexible” policy, requiring students to submit standardized test scores from SAT, ACT, AP or IB exams.

However, the Asian American Coalition for Education filed a federal civil rights complaint against the institution in April, alleging it used “racial proxies to circumvent the Supreme Court’s SFFA rulings” after Asian enrollment initially dropped 20% in 2023-24. The complaint, which sought federal investigation and potential funding suspension, argued that Yale’s enrollment patterns “strongly suggests that the institution remains committed to its DEI ideology and race-based admissions.”

Community reactions: Asian American responses remain divided two years post-ruling. While roughly 69% historically supported affirmative action policies, current tensions reflect deeper disagreements about addressing anti-Asian discrimination.

A recent analysis by anti-DEI group Do No Harm found that medical schools still favor Black students over higher-scoring Asian candidates, with Asian applicants averaging 88th percentile scores versus Black students at the 73rd percentile for admission. Meanwhile, Students for Fair Admissions, which led the Supreme Court case against affirmative action, has positioned itself as a watchdog, sending letters to Yale, Princeton and Duke questioning drops in Asian enrollment and threatening legal action a year after the ruling.

What’s next: Federal pressure has increased significantly under the Trump administration’s anti-DEI campaign, with Harvard facing specific demands for merit-based admissions reform and threats to strip billions in research funding. The university has already made concessions, renaming its DEI office and shuttering minority student services. Meanwhile, enrollment data reveals sharply different outcomes across institutions, leaving experts cautioning against premature conclusions about long-term trends. Yale’s enrollment rebound, however, signals the university may have found a different path forward than struggling peers like Harvard.