Medical school enrollment rises, but the news isn’t all good

After a few years of declining enrollment, America’s medical schools are seeing more students than ever.

For the first time, medical school enrollment in the United States has surpassed 100,000 students, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

More women are enrolling to medical schools, and they account for more than half of all medical students for the seventh year in a row. Women represent 55% of medical students.

Norma Poll-Hunter, the AAMC’s senior director of workforce diversity & community, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that the uptick in enrollment is certainly encouraging. She says crossing the 100,000 threshold was a “pleasant surprise.”

"It's good to see that young people are still very interested in pursuing, you know, a career as a physician,” she says.

More men have entered medical schools as well. About 45,000 men are enrolled in medical schools, representing 45% of all students, which is an increase of about 1%.

“I think it's good to see the uptick especially for men, because of the trends that we see within higher education, where we see less men going to college, less men graduating from college,” Poll-Hunter says. “While we are so excited about having more women as well in medicine, I think it's good to see that we're not losing men in the pathway to medical school.”

Still, there are concerns about the decline in students from minority groups. Enrollment of Black and Latino students have declined in recent years. The AAMC has revised its methodology on racial data, adding a new category for Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) in 2025-26.

While racial data for the 2025-26 year is not necessarily comparable to previous years due to the methodology change, the number of Black students fell. Poll-Hunter says the decline is attributed to multiple factors, and beyond the change in methodology.

Enrollment of Black and Latino first-year students fell by double-digits in the 2024-25 school year. AAMC leaders and other medical school administrators pointed to the impact of a Supreme Court decision that found it’s unconstitutional for colleges to consider race as a factor in admissions.

The Supreme Court ruling has played a role, but Poll-Hunter points to the dismantling of programs aimed at improving diversity in medical schools and higher education more broadly.

And she says the Trump administration’s anti-DEI policies are disappointing as medical schools aim to bring more qualified students from underrepresented areas.

“The federal government, in particular, the current administration, has really set out a lot of guidance that's really against equity, diversity and inclusion programs,” she says. “States like Florida and Texas have introduced laws that have banned equity, diversity and inclusion programs, defunded them, and closed offices within higher education. So all of these efforts really undermine access to opportunity for all students.”

Beyond racial demographics, medical schools are seeing fewer applicants coming from those with lower incomes or students with a parent who didn’t finish college or worked in service or clerical industries. The percentage of those students fell by 1 percent this year, compared to 2024-25, and numbers have dropped for four consecutive years.

Poll-Hunter sees that as part of the fallout of the rollback of diversity efforts. She pointed out those programs were also designed to provide opportunity to students in rural areas.

“These programs weren’t exclusive to students who are underrepresented by race ethnicity,” she says. “They were meant to lift up all students who needed support and resources.”

Medical schools should be able to take advantage of programs to boost enrollment of students from underrepresented groups and limited means due to the fact that there’s a physician shortage, Poll-Hunter says. And it’s projected to worsen in the coming years. The shortage of physicians could rise to 86,000 by 2036, according to AAMC projections.

“Do you wonder why you have to wait so many days, sometimes a month, to see a physician? Because we have a physician shortage,”she says.

Poll-Hunter also says efforts to enroll a wide variety of students are tied to improving health care across the nation, including in areas lacking doctors.

“Women, individuals who identify as Latino, African-American, American Indian, individuals who come from rural backgrounds, they're more likely to practice in areas of greatest need,” she says. “They're more likely to work with patients and serve patients who have Medicaid and Medicare. And so we have to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to pursue a career who's qualified and interested.”