The percentage of racial/ethnic minority students enrolled in the nation’s public schools increased between 1986 and 2006, primarily due to an increase in the proportion of Hispanic students.

The shifting racial and ethnic distribution of public school students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade is one aspect of change in the composition of school enrollment. The percentage of public school students who were considered to be part of a racial or ethnic minority group increased from 22 percent in 1972 to 31 percent in 1986 to 43 percent in 2006 (see table 5-1). Between 1972 and 2006, the percentage of public school students who were White decreased from 78 to 57 percent. The minority increase largely reflected the growth in the proportion of students who were Hispanic. In 2006, Hispanic students represented 20 percent of public school enrollment, up from 6 percent in 1972 and 11 percent in 1986. Since 1986, the proportion of public school students who were Hispanic has increased more than the proportion who were Black or members of other¹ minority groups. For example, in 2006, Black students made up 16 percent of public school enrollment, compared with 17 percent in 1986. Hispanic enrollment measurably surpassed Black enrollment for the first time in 2002. Together, Asian (3.8 percent), Pacific Islander (0.2 percent), and American Indian/Alaskan Native (0.7 percent) students and students of more than one race (2.7 percent) made up about 7.3 percent of public school enrollment in 2006.

The distribution of minority students in public schools differed by region, though minority enrollment generally grew in all regions between 1986 and 2006 and during the broader period of 1972 and 2006 (see table 5-2). Between 1972 and 2006, the South and West had larger minority enrollments than the Northeast and Midwest, and the Midwest had the smallest minority enrollment of any region. In the West, beginning in 2003, minority enrollment exceeded White enrollment, and by 2006, minority students made up 55 percent of public school enrollment, compared with 45 percent for White students. In 2006, as in all years since 1972, the percentage of Hispanic students exceeded the percentage of Black students in the West, while in the South and Midwest, the percentage of Black enrollment continued to exceed that of Hispanic enrollment.

¹"Other" includes all students who did not identify themselves as White, Black, or Hispanic. (back to text)