Harvard Has a Loss of Yield… to 81%

The coronavirus pandemic is being cited by admissions leaders all over the country to explain a loss in yield. Even at Harvard University.

The university announced Thursday that its yield for students who will enter in the fall is 81 percent. That's down from 84 percent a year ago and 82 percent the year before. (Harvard isn't in a panic about the decline.)

Harvard cited the COVID-19 pandemic to explain the marginal decline to an admissions yield rate that would have other colleges thrilled. More students asked to defer a year, citing the pandemic, Harvard said.

Some other figures about Harvard's class:

• More than half applied for financial aid.
• Women make up 51.8 percent of the class
• Asian Americans make up 24.6 percent of the class.
• African Americans are 13.9 percent.
• Latinx are 11.8 percent.
• Native Americans and Native Hawaiians are 2 percent.
• First-generation college students make up 18.7 percent of the class.