Dharma Niles, Krish Dev and Yezen Saadah report:
A hacker took over NYU’s website for at least two hours Saturday morning to expose over 3 million applicants’ names, test scores, majors and zip codes, as well as information related to family members and financial aid dating back to at least 1989.
The university’s website was restored at around noon. The hacked page displayed three charts with what the group claims to be NYU’s average admitted SAT scores, ACT scores and GPAs for the 2024-25 admissions cycle. The group argued that despite the Supreme Court’s takedown of affirmative action in 2023, “NYU continued anyway,” showing that the average admitted test scores and GPAs for Asian and white applicants were higher than those who identify as Hispanic or Black.
The page, first reported by a user on Reddit at around 10:30 a.m., included four accessible CSV files revealing NYU admissions data since at least 1989, including over 3 million admitted students’ applications, demographic data, city and zip codes, and citizenship status. The files also show Common Application data, which includes details of financial aid, rejected students, how many students applied Early Decision and personal information about siblings and parents.
Read more at Washington Square News, which is NYU’s independent student newspaper.