WashU admitted six transfer students this semester in the second year of the mid-year transfer admissions program for the College of Arts & Sciences that began in 2024. Twelve first-years and two sophomores were admitted during the pilot year of the program. 

After a 2013 New York Times article identified WashU as having one of the least socioeconomically diverse student bodies among elite colleges, the University has launched several initiatives aimed at diversifying its overall student population. One such focus has been  on rural student recruitment, which fully launched in 2023, and has led to a 34% increase in rural first-year enrollment between fall 2023 and fall 2024. 

As a coalition of affinity groups representing Black, Latine, and Asian students at WashU, we are deeply disappointed by the substantial decline in students of color enrolling at WashU.

In addition to the 1,851-student-strong class of 2028, 50 transfer students from 38 colleges count among the new arrivals at WashU. But what isn’t so clear is the opposite side of that equation: the number of students who chose not to return to campus.

Twelve freshmen and sophomore students enrolled at Washington University as mid-year transfer students this semester, the first time in recent history that students were accepted in between semesters. Several of these students are Jewish and said they came to the University after feeling unsafe on their previous campuses due to antisemitism. 

Student Life sat down with Grace Chapin James, Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions, to unpack how the Supreme Court’s decision to overrule affirmative action will impact future classes at Washington University. 

Wash U class of 2026 boasts a record-low acceptance rate of 10% and increased diversity.

Washington University is now the 14th highest ranked University nationally according to U.S. News and World Report

The unprecedented admissions cycle yielded more applicants, a lower acceptance rate and a higher number of students accepting the University’s offer of admission. 

Sophomores said that they were shocked and saddened by the housing assignment changes that relocated many of them from the South 40 to the Northside.