College Yield Drops 3 Percent Since COVID-19

Some students have deferred their enrollment to next year. 

Entrance to the Harvard Office of Admissions and Financial Aid

The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid 
Photograph by Lydia Carmichael/Harvard Magazine

The College’s yield for the class of 2024, or the share of admitted students who indicated that they will attend Harvard, has dropped from 84 percent on May 1 to 81 percent, according to a University announcement made today. Some students have deferred their enrollment until next fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which accounts for the drop. 

Last year’s yield was 82.1 percent; the 84 percent yield earlier this year was the highest since the early 1970s. 

First-generation college students make up 18.7 percent of the incoming class, and 22.4 percent of them qualify for the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative’s policy of making the College tuition-free for students whose families earn less than $65,000. The class’s racial makeup is similar to what was already reported about the admitted class in March: 24.6 percent are Asian-American; 13.9 percent are African-American; 11.8 percent are Latinx; and 2 percent are Native American or Native Hawaiian. 

Find more of Harvard Magazine’s reporting on what the fall semester will look like here and here

Read more articles by Marina N. Bolotnikova

You might also like

As weight loss medications become more common, Daniel Lieberman discusses the importance of preserving muscle.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Nobel Prize recipient Joseph E. Murray dedicated much of his career to organ transplant surgery.

Most popular

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Harvard rugby first-year scorer Sofie Fella

Rugby’s freshman scorer Sofie Fella

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Explore More From Current Issue

Two figures stand before a large, colorful pixelated face against a yellow background.

Harvard scientists identify hundreds of genes under selective pressure.

A vibrant group of dancers in colorful outfits poses on a stage with shiny decorations.

The Harvard Arts Medalist wants his smash-hit Cats revival to reach “as many young queer people” as possible.

Graduates in caps and gowns celebrate joyfully, raising their hands in excitement.

Conan O’Brien headlines a star-studded cast