Only two of the leading public institutions for each state had a percentage of underrepresented minorities among domestic full-time, first-time freshmen that even slightly exceeded the estimated percentage of those minorities among 17- to 21-year-old residents of that state. The other 48 flagship universities had negative percentage-point differences, meaning their fall-2017 adjusted entering-student cohorts fell short of being as representative of underrepresented minorities, or URMs, as were state residents in that age group. Seven of the 13 states that had negative gaps of more than 20 percentage points were in the Southeast. Only three of the 50 flagships had more than 10 percent black students in the entering adjusted cohort, while the 17- to 21-year-old population was at least 10 percent black in 25 states.
| | | Adjusted entering cohort, fall 2017 | American Indian | Black | Hispanic | All URMs in adjusted cohort | Share of URMs among state residents ages 17 to 21 | Percentage-point difference |
| 1. | U. of Maine at Orono | 2,201 | 1.0% | 2.0% | 4.9% | 7.9% | 7.2% | 0.7 |
| 2. | West Virginia U. | 4,931 | 0.1% | 4.5% | 4.1% | 8.8% | 8.4% | 0.4 |
| 3. | U. of Vermont | 2,480 | 0.1% | 1.3% | 4.8% | 6.3% | 6.7% | -0.4 |
| 4. | U. of Kentucky | 4,574 | 0.2% | 9.0% | 5.4% | 14.7% | 16.6% | -1.9 |
| 5. | U. of Hawaii-Manoa | 1,858 | 0.1% | 1.7% | 14.4% | 16.2% | 18.9% | -2.7 |
| 6. | U. of New Hampshire* | 2,837 | 0.1% | 1.0% | 3.9% | 4.9% | 8.0% | -3.1 |
| 7. | U. of Iowa | 4,535 | 0.2% | 2.8% | 8.2% | 11.1% | 14.4% | -3.3 |
| 8. | U. of Utah | 3,702 | 0.3% | 1.2% | 14.3% | 15.7% | 19.8% | -4.1 |
| 9. | U. of Oregon | 3,555 | 0.6% | 3.1% | 16.0% | 19.6% | 24.9% | -5.3 |
| 10. | U. of Montana at Missoula | 1,470 | 4.4% | 1.0% | 4.9% | 10.3% | 15.6% | -5.3 |
| 11. | U. of Idaho | 1,418 | 0.8% | 1.1% | 13.0% | 14.9% | 20.5% | -5.6 |
| 12. | U. of Alaska at Fairbanks | 606 | 17.7% | 2.1% | 8.1% | 27.9% | 36.0% | -8.1 |
| 13. | U. of Missouri at Columbia | 4,039 | 0.3% | 7.6% | 4.8% | 12.7% | 21.1% | -8.4 |
| 14. | Indiana U. at Bloomington | 7,270 | 0.1% | 5.0% | 7.2% | 12.3% | 20.9% | -8.5 |
| 15. | U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities | 5,745 | 0.2% | 3.9% | 5.0% | 9.0% | 18.1% | -9.1 |
| 16. | U. of Wyoming | 1,521 | 0.2% | 1.2% | 7.5% | 8.9% | 18.2% | -9.3 |
| 17. | U. of North Dakota | 1,865 | 0.6% | 1.1% | 3.4% | 5.1% | 14.8% | -9.6 |
| 18. | Ohio State U. | 6,311 | 0.1% | 5.6% | 5.5% | 11.2% | 21.1% | -9.9 |
| 19. | U. of Massachusetts at Amherst | 4,142 | 0.1% | 5.4% | 8.8% | 14.2% | 24.2% | -9.9 |
| 20. | U. of Wisconsin at Madison | 5,889 | 0.3% | 2.1% | 6.5% | 8.9% | 19.0% | -10.1 |
| 21. | Pennsylvania State U. at University Park | 7,080 | 0.1% | 4.4% | 9.0% | 13.5% | 24.0% | -10.5 |
| 22. | U. of Nebraska at Lincoln* | 4,586 | 0.3% | 3.0% | 7.7% | 11.1% | 21.9% | -10.8 |
| 23. | U. of New Mexico | 3,086 | 3.7% | 2.5% | 54.7% | 60.9% | 71.8% | -10.8 |
| 24. | U. of South Dakota | 1,182 | 1.6% | 3.0% | 3.8% | 8.5% | 19.4% | -10.9 |
| 25. | U. of Rhode Island | 3,039 | 0.1% | 5.2% | 10.9% | 16.2% | 27.3% | -11.1 |
| 26. | U. of Kansas | 3,973 | 0.5% | 4.1% | 9.1% | 13.6% | 25.2% | -11.6 |
| 27. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor* | 6,135 | 0.2% | 4.4% | 7.7% | 12.3% | 24.5% | -12.1 |
| 28. | U. of Washington* | 5,530 | 0.5% | 3.6% | 10.3% | 14.4% | 26.7% | -12.3 |
| 29. | U. of Connecticut | 3,077 | 0.1% | 7.0% | 12.2% | 19.2% | 32.1% | -12.9 |
| 30. | U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 6,339 | 0.0% | 7.9% | 15.7% | 23.6% | 39.7% | -16.1 |
| 31. | U. of Tennessee at Knoxville | 4,753 | 0.2% | 6.8% | 4.6% | 11.6% | 28.5% | -16.9 |
| 32. | U. of Arkansas at Fayetteville | 4,954 | 0.8% | 4.0% | 8.8% | 13.6% | 30.6% | -17.1 |
| 33. | U. at Buffalo | 3,494 | 0.3% | 9.2% | 9.9% | 19.4% | 38.4% | -19.0 |
| 34. | U. of Virginia | 3,390 | 0.1% | 7.8% | 7.0% | 14.9% | 34.1% | -19.2 |
| 35. | U. of Colorado at Boulder | 6,135 | 0.2% | 1.7% | 13.7% | 15.6% | 35.2% | -19.5 |
| 36. | Rutgers U. at New Brunswick | 5,493 | 0.1% | 6.2% | 13.6% | 19.9% | 39.6% | -19.6 |
| 37. | U. of Arizona* | 5,602 | 1.0% | 3.9% | 28.3% | 33.2% | 53.1% | -19.9 |
| 38. | U. of Oklahoma at Norman* | 3,809 | 3.3% | 3.5% | 9.5% | 16.3% | 37.2% | -21.0 |
| 39. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 4,061 | 0.4% | 7.9% | 8.4% | 16.8% | 39.0% | -22.2 |
| 40. | U. of Florida* | 6,032 | 0.1% | 6.9% | 21.8% | 28.8% | 51.4% | -22.6 |
| 41. | U. of Alabama at Tuscaloosa | 7,302 | 0.4% | 7.6% | 5.3% | 13.3% | 37.7% | -24.5 |
| 42. | U. of Delaware | 4,342 | 0.1% | 6.1% | 10.1% | 16.3% | 40.9% | -24.6 |
| 43. | U. of Maryland at College Park | 4,870 | 0.1% | 11.0% | 8.2% | 19.3% | 45.1% | -25.8 |
| 44. | Louisiana State U. at Baton Rouge | 4,816 | 0.6% | 12.2% | 6.5% | 19.3% | 45.3% | -26.0 |
| 45. | U. of South Carolina at Columbia | 5,766 | 0.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% | 11.0% | 39.1% | -28.1 |
| 46. | U. of Nevada at Reno | 3,533 | 0.6% | 3.8% | 21.0% | 25.4% | 54.1% | -28.7 |
| 47. | U. of Texas at Austin | 7,856 | 0.2% | 4.7% | 25.9% | 30.7% | 60.9% | -30.2 |
| 48. | U. of Mississippi | 3,577 | 0.3% | 11.6% | 3.6% | 15.5% | 48.2% | -32.6 |
| 49. | U. of Georgia | 5,682 | 0.1% | 8.2% | 6.8% | 15.1% | 47.8% | -32.7 |
| 50. | U. of California at Berkeley* | 5,361 | 0.1% | 1.7% | 17.6% | 19.5% | 56.9% | -37.4 |
| | All 50 flagships and states | 215,804 | 0.5% | 5.2% | 10.9% | 16.5% | 38.7% | -22.2 |
* This flagship is in a state that had an affirmative-action ban in effect in 2017.
Note: A flagship institution is generally defined as the best-known, largest, most-selective, most research-intensive, and longest-established public university in each state. This table relies on the College Board’s identification of one such flagship for each state.
The adjusted cohort includes only full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates who entered college in the fall of 2017. Students of unknown race or who were nonresident aliens were excluded from the adjusted cohort. Percentages of American Indian, black, and Hispanic students, and underrepresented minorities (which consists of those three racial or ethnic groups), show each group’s share of the adjusted cohort. The percentages of underrepresented minorities, or URMs among 17- to 21-year-old state residents were based on estimates prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau in collaboration with the National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for July 1, 2017.
The percentage-point difference is between the representation of underrepresented minorities among the adjusted entering fall-2017 cohort at the flagship and the estimated representation of underrepresented minorities among 17- to 21-year-old state residents. A positive figure suggests the flagship’s entering class is more representative than that age segment of the population, and a negative figure indicates how far short of being representative the flagship was. Institutions are ranked by the percentage-point difference. Percentages and percentage-point differences are rounded, but institutions were ranked before rounding. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data for college enrollment, and of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for representation in state population