Nearly 23 percent of the students on the Ann Arbor campus this year are students of color, another all-time high.
Fall enrollment figures show that the number of minority students has grown to 7,578, or 22.8 percent of the student body, up from last year’s number of 7,097, or 21.4 percent. Five years ago there were 4,991 students of color, or 15.4 percent.
For the third straight year, enrollment of African American students has reached an all-time high. This year’s Black student enrollment totals 2,706, or 8.1 percent of the student body, up from 2,599, or 7.8 percent, last year. Five years ago there were 2,011 Black students, 6.2 percent.
Asian American enrollment totals 3,126, or 9.4 percent of the student body, this year, up from 2,899, or 8.8 percent, last year.
For Native Americans, enrollment grew to 249, or 0.7 percent of the total, this year, up from 227, or 0.7 percent, last year.
Hispanic enrollment rose to 1,497, or 4.5 percent, this year, compared with 1,372, or 4.1 percent, last year.
“Our continued progress in increasing the number of students of color is extremely gratifying,” President James J. Duderstadt says. “But our greatest challenges remain. We must improve the environment for diversity, so that all students know that their opinions and ideas are valued and their differences are respected.
“We must continue to improve our rates of retention as well. We are among the leaders in the country in graduation rates for students of color, and this focus on academic success must continue. This is an exciting time to be at Michigan, as we work to build a truly multicultural community.”
Of this year’s total minority enrollment, 5,321 are undergraduate students (or 23.5 percent of all undergraduates), including 1,841 African Americans (8.1 percent); 2,281 Asian Americans (10.1 percent); 179 Native Americans (0.8 percent); and 1,020 Hispanic Americans (4.5 percent).
Of students in the graduate professional schools and non-Rackham graduate students, 1,268 are minority students (23.9 percent of all professional school students), including 503 African Americans (9.5 percent); 482 Asian Americans (9.1 percent); 39 Native Americans (0.7 percent); 244 Hispanic Americans (4.6 percent).
Rackham graduate students outside of the professional schools include 989 minority students (18.7 percent of all graduate students), including 362 African Americans (6.9 percent); 363 Asian Americans (6.9 percent); 31 Native Americans (0.6 percent); and 233 Hispanic Americans (4.4 percent).
Minority enrollment figures are based on a total adjusted enrollment figure of 33,259, which includes only U.S. citizens and permanent residents enrolled in degree-granting programs on the Ann Arbor campus. Foreign students are not included in the calculations.
