Harvard admissions applications fall sharply amid antisemitism controversy

Harvard admissions applications fall sharply amid antisemitism controversy

Harvard reported a 17% decline in its early admissions applications compared to a year ago as the Ivy League college remains embroiled in controversy over its handling of antisemitism on campus.

Harvard College announced Thursday that it accepted 692 students to the class of 2028 out of the 7,921 applicants who applied under Harvard’s Early Action Program, which required applications to be submitted by Nov. 1. 

That amounts to a 17% drop compared to last year’s early application window when 9,553 submitted applications, and is the smallest number of early applicants since the pandemic began – though this year’s group is larger than the annual early applications received in the 2017-2019 period.

Two of Harvard’s fellow Ivy League institutions saw increases in the number of early applications received. 

Yale University received 7,856 early applications this year, an increase of 1.4% from a year ago and the second-highest number in its history, the school announced in a release Friday. The University of Pennsylvania – which saw President Liz Magill resign last week amid a controversy over the handling of antisemitism on campus – also saw 500 more applications than last year, according to a report by Bloomberg.