College Accepts 9 Percent of Class of 2028 Applicants

The college received 13,700 applications, up 1,000 from last year. Information about the racial and ethnic makeup of the class, the first to be admitted since the fall of affirmative action, is not yet available.

College Accepts 9 Percent of Class of 2028 Applicants
The college‘s acceptance rate held steady at nine percent, although the college saw around 1,000 more applications. Photo courtesy of Lauren Kelz ’27.

The college accepted nine percent of over 13,700 applicants to the class of 2028. The admitted students come from 49 U.S. states, along with Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Regular decisions were sent out on Friday, March 22 at 6:21 p.m., per tradition, in recognition of Amherst’s founding in 1821.

This is the second consecutive year the college’s acceptance rate has been nine percent, slightly up from an all-time low of seven percent for the class of 2026. Total applicants increased by 1,000 from last year’s 12,700, after they fell by more than 2,000 between the classes of 2026 and 2027.

The class of 2028 is the first to be admitted after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action last summer, so admissions officers have not been able to view information about students’ racial identities throughout the admissions process, said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Matt McGann. Data about the class of 2028’s racial and ethnic makeup will not be available until this summer, when enrollment has been completed.