New undergraduates begin their Yale College journey

Yale College last month welcomed 1,554 new first-year students to New Haven as members of the Class of 2028. They were joined by 23 new transfer students and 26 new adult students matriculating through the Eli Whitney Students Program.

Among the new students are graduates of more than 1,100 high schools, 20 veterans of the U.S. military, and 23 students who were most recently enrolled at a community college.

More than 385 first-year students (25%) are eligible for a federal Pell Grant for lower-income students, and 21% will be part of the first generation in their families to graduate from a four-year college. A majority (54%) are U.S. citizens or permanent residents who identify as a member of a minority racial or ethnic group. A complete profile of the class from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is available here.

“Yale College’s newest students bring with them an extraordinary collection of interests, ambitions, and talents that will enrich the undergraduate learning environment,” said Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid. “I am especially excited that the Class of 2028 includes the greatest representation of first-generation and low-income students on record, and that Yale College now enrolls more veterans than it has in many decades.”

Sustaining a commitment to diversity in a new legal landscape

Quinlan noted that the admissions office made several changes to its selection process in response to the June 2023 Supreme Court ruling on the use of race in admissions. This year application reviewers did not have access to self-identified race and/or ethnicity data for applicants, and admissions officers involved in selection did not have access to aggregate data on the racial or ethnic composition of the pool of applicants or admitted students. All individuals involved in the selection process — including admissions officers, faculty participating in admissions committee meetings, and volunteer alumni interviewers — received new training on complying with the ruling.

These changes and others were detailed in a message to the Yale community last September in which Quinlan and Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis identified three priorities for the college’s response to the ruling: “fully complying with the law, continuing to support a diverse and inclusive community, and maintaining a world-class admissions process that considers each applicant as an individual.”

In that message, the admissions office also announced several new initiatives designed to expand Yale’s outreach to prospective students and to develop new talent pipelines. Although some initiatives had not launched before the current group of incoming students applied, Quinlan said the admissions office received a record number of applications — more than 60,000 for the first-year, transfer, and Eli Whitney admissions programs combined. The pool also included the most applications ever from students who identify as members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Exceptional talent, myriad backgrounds

The newest Yalies arrived in New Haven from 52 U.S. states and territories and from 55 countries. Almost half (49%) reported that they speak a language other than English as their first language or as the language in their home.

As applicants, students in the first-year class were invited to list up to three Yale majors that fit their academic interests. Collectively, they expressed interest in pursuing 83 distinct Yale College majors. Roughly a quarter (23%) of the students listed an arts and humanities major as their first interest. A similar proportion (28%) chose a social science major. Just under half of the class listed a STEM major: 33% opted for physical sciences or engineering, and 17% selected one of five life science majors. More than 98% of incoming students listed multiple majors of interest, and 87% selected three majors spanning two or more academic categories, such as history, computer science, and environmental studies or applied math, political science, and global affairs.

Benefiting from an expanded commitment to affordability

More than 58% of the new students are receiving need-based financial aid from Yale, with an average scholarship of over $74,000 for the 2024-25 academic year. Students from families with annual incomes below $75,000 and typical assets qualify for a financial aid award with a “zero parent share.” These awards cover the full cost of tuition, housing, the meal plan, travel, hospitalization insurance, and a $2,000 startup grant with scholarship funds. Approximately 330 new first-year students (21%) qualified for one of these awards.

“The mission of the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid is to make a Yale College education affordable for all admitted students,” said Kari DiFonzo, director of undergraduate financial aid, who recently completed her first year at Yale. DiFonzo also shared that, in a new program introduced earlier this year, all admitted and enrolled students were assigned a personal financial aid counselor to provide support and assist families through the process of finalizing financial aid offers or requesting a review.

The newest Yalies are benefiting from recent enhancements to undergraduate financial aid policies that have added millions of dollars to the annual financial aid budget and have reduced costs for thousands of students. Last year Yale was recognized as a national leader in increasing the representation of lower-income students. More than one in three Yale College undergraduates are now first-generation college students or are from a lower-income family.

Making a smooth transition

While new first years met their first-year counselors and residential college communities on Sunday, Aug. 18, many new students began their transition to Yale earlier still.

Last April, more than 1,500 admitted students attended Bulldog Days and Bulldog Saturday, the admissions office’s signature on-campus visit programs. More than 500 current students volunteered to host visiting students in their residential college suites, and more than 100 faculty participated in the popular Bulldog Days academic fair.

Over the summer, nearly 100 students participated in the six-week First-Year Scholars at Yale (FSY) program, which provides an accelerated transition to Yale for a select group of incoming students from lower-income households. FSY participants complete English and mathematics coursework and participate in advising sessions, skills workshops, faculty lectures, and in-person meetings with deans and campus leaders. The free program was launched in 2013 and has served more than 500 Yalies over 12 summers.

More than 200 incoming students also participated in Online Experiences for Yale Scholars (ONEXYS) a free virtual math program that introduces quantitative concepts and skills used in many Yale math, physical science, and social science courses.

After arriving on campus, each new student participated in one of nine distinctive Camp Yale Programs (CYPs) designed to cultivate an early sense of belonging among incoming students. These programs include BUILD, at the CEID (Yale Center for Engineering Innovation & Design); Camp Yale Arts, at the Yale University Art Gallery and Center for Collaborative Arts and Media; Cultural Connections (CC); FOCUS on New Haven; First-Year Outdoor Orientation Trips (FOOT); Harvest; LAUNCH; Orientation for International Students (OIS); and Yale Reserved. Since 2022, Yale has covered all costs associated with the programs.

Many new students will see their families again this month for the Yale College Family Weekend scheduled for Sept. 27-29.

Dean Lewis, who recently welcomed new students with an address on citizenship and liberal education, underscored that “the Yale College experience is strengthened by the diversity of our undergraduate community” and that “our newest students will learn invaluable lessons from their peers while developing the skills that will prepare them to lead and serve.”

“We’re delighted,” he said, “that they chose Yale.”