Changing Student Demographics of Higher Education

The racial and ethnic composition of students entering college is changing rapidly. According to demographic projections, 40 percent of high school graduates in the United States will be nonwhite by the year 2010, up from just over a third this year and less than 25 percent in 1980. These rapid shifts in the make-up of the college population are the background for a project designed to help college administrators create campus environments where students can learn and benefit from this increasing diversity.

Now in the second year of a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Educational Effects of Diversity in Higher Education is led by Fellow Richard Light (Harvard University) as part of the Academy's Initiatives for Children. The project has brought together administrators from more than twenty campuses to discuss how their schools have responded to diversity and how administrative decisions can help foster positive interactions among students from different backgrounds.

Describing the collaborative nature of the project, Professor Light explained, "As we grapple with making the most of student diversity, and as we accumulate information and wisdom about our own campuses over time, we can help colleagues on other campuses as well."

Back to the November 2000 Newsletter