In 2002, Black students were more than twice as likely as Hispanic students to attend an institution where they made up at least 80 percent of the total enrollment, reflecting in part the existence of institutions established principally to educate Black Americans.

Twenty-nine percent of all students enrolled in degree-granting institutions in 2002 were racial/ethnic minorities—that is, they were American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or Hispanic.¹ This indicator first compares the percent minority enrollment across types of institutions and then examines two measures of racial isolation: the percentage of minority students who were attending institutions with low- and high-minority enrollments (defined as less than 20 percent and 80 percent or more, respectively); and for Asians/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, and Hispanics,² how many of their own racial/ethnic group were at the institutions they attended.

At each type of 4-year institution, roughly one-quarter of students (24–26 percent) were minorities (see first chart below and table 31-1). Public 2-year institutions had proportionately more minority students (36 percent) than 4-year institutions.

Although the percentages of students who were minorities were similar across types of 4-year institutions, minority students who attended doctoral and master’s institutions were more likely to be at an institution with a low- minority enrollment than at one with a high-minority enrollment; however, minority students who attended other 4-year institutions were more likely to be at an institution with a high- rather than low-minority enrollment.

For minority students, the likelihood of attending an institution with a high concentration of their own racial/ethnic group depends partly, but not entirely, on the size of the group. In 2002, Black and Hispanic students accounted for similar percentages of total enrollment (12 and 10 percent, respectively), and about one-fifth of each group attended institutions where they were the majority (see second chart below). However, Blacks were more than twice as likely as Hispanics to attend an institution where they made up at least 80 percent of the total enrollment (12 vs. 5 percent). Asians/Pacific Islanders accounted for a relatively low proportion of overall enrollment (6 percent); consequently, two-thirds of them attended an institution where less than 20 percent of the total enrollment was Asian/Pacific Islander. These overall patterns for individual racial/ethnic groups varied by type of institution (see table 31-3).

Twelve percent of Black students attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), defined as degree-granting institutions established prior to 1964 with the principal mission of educating Black Americans (see table 31-2).

Forty-seven percent of Hispanic students attended Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), defined in legislation as degree-granting institutions with full-time-equivalent undergraduate enrollment of Hispanic students at 25 percent or more.

¹Includes undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional students. Nonresident aliens are included in the total enrollment (i.e., the denominator), but none are considered minority students. (back to text)

²American Indians constituted 1 percent of total enrollment and were not examined separately. See table 31-2 for data on American Indians. (back to text)