By Terry Gallagher
News and Information Services
Minority student enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus continues to climb, according to a report released last Wednesday.
Fall enrollment figures show that the number of minority students has grown to 7,097, or 21.4 percent of the student body. This is a significant increase from last year’s number of 6,636 students (20.1 percent), and more than double the 3,252 students a decade ago (10.3 percent).
For the second straight year, enrollment of African American students has reached an all-time high. This year’s Black student enrollment totals 2,599, or 7.8 percent of the student body, up from 2,510, or 7.6 percent, last year.
Over the past five years, Black student enrollment has increased by nearly 50 percent, rising from 1,734 Black students, or 5.4 percent of the student body, in 1987.
The report is based on a total adjusted enrollment figure of 33,118, which includes only U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens enrolled in degree-granting programs on the Ann Arbor campus. Foreign students are not included in the calculations.
Major focuses of the University’s four-year-old Michigan Mandate program have been to recruit more minority students, to create a campus climate that values diversity and to create a stronger campus support system to retain minority students through graduation.
“Our continued progress toward these goals has been the result of the dedication and hard work of thousands of our faculty members, staff, students and alumni to make the University of Michigan a more diverse institution,” said President James J. Duderstadt. “The University is a better place today because we have been willing to change and become more inclusive.”
Asian American enrollment has grown to 2,899 students, or 8.8 percent of the total enrollment in 1992, up from 2,697 (8.1 percent) in 1991. For Native Americans, enrollment has risen to 227 students, 0.7 percent of the total student body, up from 189 (0.6 percent) last year.
Hispanic American enrollment also has risen, to 1,372 students. They comprise 4.1 percent of the student body, up from 1,240 (3.8 percent) in 1991.
Among graduate students in professional-degree programs, 22.8 percent are members of minority groups, including 9.7 percent African American, 8.2 percent Asian American, 0.6 percent Native American, and 4.3 percent Hispanic American.
Among undergraduates, 21.8 percent of the enrollment is minority students, of whom 7.6 percent are Black, 9.4 percent Asian American, 0.7 percent Native American, and 4.1 percent Hispanic American.
For graduate students in Rackham programs, 18.3 percent of the enrollment consists of minority students, with 7 percent Black, 6.6 percent Asian American, 0.5 percent Native American, and 4.2 percent Hispanic American.
“This continuing progress is an affirmation of the commitment and work by our faculty, students and staff to bring students of color to the University, and, what is just as important, to see them through to graduation,” said Charles D. Moody Sr., vice provost for minority affairs.
“We need to keep pushing this process and keep improving the climate for diversity so that everyone who comes here feels welcomed and empowered. I look forward to seeing that day arrive.”
Theodore Spencer, interim director of undergraduate admissions, says he is “pleased with the quality of the University’s minority students overall, which has increased steadily over the years. Our newest students will be very competitive.”
Spencer notes that the U-M’s minority students’ ACT scores and grade-point-averages (GPAs) “are significantly above state and national averages. Our students are definitely ranked among the best.”
The average ACT score for Black students nationwide is 17, the average SAT score is 736. Spencer says the U-M’s Black students have an average ACT score between 23 and 29 and an SAT scoring range of 1090 to 1270, accompanied by 3.4–3.9 GPAs.
In addition, Spencer says he expects “the strength of members of the Class of 1996 to be the same or slightly above that of the Class of 1995, both overall and for minority students.”
