Asians made up more than a fifth of undergraduate enrollment at 23 of the 95 most selective four-year colleges in the country in the fall of 2016, and 68 of those 95 colleges had Asian enrollment that exceeded Asians’ 5.2-percent share of the U.S. population. Taken together, highly selective colleges had Asian enrollment of nearly 18 percent, compared with 7 percent for four-year colleges over all. The most selective colleges in the country also had a lower share of whites than did four-year colleges over all. Though some of the colleges with the highest representation of Asians were in states with relatively large Asian populations, like California, others were in states with low Asian representation, like North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
| 1. | California Institute of Technology | California | 13.9% | 47.0% | 21.6% | 31.5% | 8.1% |
| 2. | U. of California at Berkeley | California | 13.9% | 42.7% | 25.6% | 31.7% | 16.9% |
| 3. | Carnegie Mellon U. | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 38.6% | 22.5% | 38.9% | 21.7% |
| 4. | City U. of New York Bernard M. Baruch College | New York | 8.1% | 35.6% | 40.1% | 24.2% | 30.7% |
| 5. | U. of California at Los Angeles | California | 13.9% | 33.3% | 35.3% | 31.4% | 18.0% |
| 6. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 29.1% | 31.2% | 39.6% | 7.9% |
| 7. | Rice U. | Texas | 4.4% | 28.0% | 29.5% | 42.5% | 15.3% |
| 8. | Johns Hopkins U. | Maryland | 6.1% | 27.2% | 28.2% | 44.5% | 12.8% |
| 9. | New York U. | New York | 8.1% | 26.5% | 30.2% | 43.3% | 31.9% |
| 10. | Wellesley College | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 26.5% | 27.6% | 45.9% | 28.6% |
| 11. | California State U. at Long Beach | California | 13.9% | 25.0% | 55.1% | 19.9% | 31.9% |
| 12. | Princeton U. | New Jersey | 9.2% | 24.7% | 25.0% | 50.3% | 6.5% |
| 13. | U. of Southern California | California | 13.9% | 24.6% | 28.4% | 47.0% | 16.6% |
| 14. | Duke U. | North Carolina | 2.6% | 24.4% | 23.1% | 52.4% | 10.8% |
| 15. | Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia | 3.7% | 23.1% | 19.7% | 57.1% | 25.8% |
| 16. | Harvey Mudd College | California | 13.9% | 23.1% | 34.6% | 42.4% | 12.9% |
| 17. | Stanford U. | California | 13.9% | 22.8% | 37.2% | 40.0% | 4.8% |
| 18. | Emory U. | Georgia | 3.7% | 22.7% | 26.0% | 51.3% | 25.3% |
| 19. | U. of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 22.7% | 25.1% | 52.3% | 9.4% |
| 20. | Cornell U. | New York | 8.1% | 22.5% | 29.2% | 48.3% | 14.1% |
| 21. | U. of Chicago | Illinois | 5.1% | 21.8% | 25.4% | 52.7% | 7.9% |
| 22. | Columbia U. | New York | 8.1% | 21.7% | 32.6% | 45.7% | 6.8% |
| 23. | Harvard U. | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 20.3% | 28.2% | 51.5% | 5.4% |
| 24. | Juilliard School | New York | 8.1% | 19.7% | 24.1% | 56.2% | 6.2% |
| 25. | Yale U. | Connecticut | 4.3% | 19.5% | 28.5% | 52.1% | 6.3% |
| 26. | Washington U. in St. Louis | Missouri | 1.8% | 19.4% | 21.3% | 59.3% | 16.5% |
| 27. | Northwestern U. | Illinois | 5.1% | 19.2% | 26.2% | 54.6% | 10.7% |
| 28. | Boston U. | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 19.0% | 24.8% | 56.2% | 29.4% |
| 29. | Swarthmore College | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 18.9% | 31.7% | 49.4% | 12.8% |
| 30. | Babson College | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 17.6% | 26.0% | 56.4% | 24.6% |
| 31. | Brown U. | Rhode Island | 3.3% | 17.5% | 30.2% | 52.4% | 9.3% |
| 32. | Pomona College | California | 13.9% | 17.3% | 37.7% | 44.9% | 9.4% |
| 33. | Dartmouth College | New Hampshire | 2.4% | 17.2% | 26.6% | 56.2% | 10.6% |
| 34. | Scripps College | California | 13.9% | 17.0% | 24.1% | 58.8% | 29.9% |
| 35. | Northeastern U. | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 17.0% | 20.5% | 62.5% | 28.9% |
| 36. | Amherst College | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 16.1% | 35.0% | 48.9% | 13.7% |
| 37. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | Michigan | 2.8% | 15.4% | 15.3% | 69.2% | 28.6% |
| 38. | Barnard College | New York | 8.1% | 15.4% | 27.2% | 57.4% | 16.7% |
| 39. | U. of Virginia | Virginia | 6.1% | 14.3% | 19.3% | 66.4% | 29.9% |
| 40. | Tufts U. | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 14.2% | 18.5% | 67.3% | 14.3% |
| 41. | Vanderbilt U. | Tennessee | 1.6% | 14.2% | 27.2% | 58.6% | 10.7% |
| 42. | California Institute of the Arts | California | 13.9% | 14.1% | 36.7% | 49.2% | 23.6% |
| 43. | Williams College | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 13.8% | 27.9% | 58.3% | 17.6% |
| 44. | Claremont McKenna College | California | 13.9% | 13.5% | 32.0% | 54.4% | 9.4% |
| 45. | California Polytechnic State U. at San Luis Obispo | California | 13.9% | 13.5% | 26.0% | 60.5% | 29.5% |
| 46. | Vassar College | New York | 8.1% | 13.4% | 23.5% | 63.0% | 26.9% |
| 47. | Georgetown U. | District of Columbia | 3.6% | 11.4% | 23.0% | 65.6% | 16.8% |
| 48. | Haverford College | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 11.2% | 22.4% | 66.4% | 21.4% |
| 49. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | North Carolina | 2.6% | 11.0% | 21.9% | 67.1% | 26.9% |
| 50. | Boston College | Massachusetts | 6.1% | 10.9% | 18.8% | 70.2% | 31.1% |
| 51. | Pitzer College | California | 13.9% | 10.4% | 35.9% | 53.7% | 13.7% |
| 52. | Grinnell College | Iowa | 2.1% | 9.9% | 23.1% | 66.9% | 20.2% |
| 53. | Carleton College | Minnesota | 4.5% | 9.7% | 20.1% | 70.3% | 22.6% |
| 54. | Lehigh U. | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 9.5% | 17.1% | 73.4% | 26.1% |
| 55. | Brigham Young U.-Hawaii | Hawaii | 38.0% | 8.6% | 39.0% | 52.4% | 27.1% |
| 56. | Wesleyan U. (Conn.) | Connecticut | 4.3% | 8.5% | 27.1% | 64.4% | 17.8% |
| 57. | U. of Richmond | Virginia | 6.1% | 8.3% | 22.1% | 69.6% | 32.5% |
| 58. | U.S. Merchant Marine Academy | New York | 8.1% | 8.3% | 15.4% | 76.3% | 20.3% |
| 59. | Hamilton College (N.Y.) | New York | 8.1% | 8.0% | 17.8% | 74.2% | 26.1% |
| 60. | Middlebury College | Vermont | 1.5% | 7.6% | 20.3% | 72.0% | 16.1% |
| 61. | Reed College | Oregon | 4.0% | 7.3% | 25.3% | 67.4% | 31.3% |
| 62. | American U. | District of Columbia | 3.6% | 7.2% | 27.4% | 65.4% | 25.9% |
| 63. | Colby College | Maine | 1.1% | 7.1% | 18.9% | 74.0% | 18.7% |
| 64. | City U. of New York Herbert H. Lehman College | New York | 8.1% | 6.7% | 86.9% | 6.4% | 32.5% |
| 65. | Bowdoin College | Maine | 1.1% | 6.5% | 25.2% | 68.3% | 14.8% |
| 66. | Davidson College | North Carolina | 2.6% | 5.9% | 20.6% | 73.5% | 20.1% |
| 67. | Skidmore College | New York | 8.1% | 5.7% | 20.0% | 74.3% | 29.1% |
| 68. | U. of Notre Dame | Indiana | 2.0% | 5.4% | 20.8% | 73.8% | 18.7% |
| 69. | Lafayette College | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 5.1% | 16.7% | 78.2% | 28.3% |
| 70. | Bucknell U. | Pennsylvania | 3.1% | 5.1% | 14.4% | 80.6% | 29.9% |
| 71. | Colorado College | Colorado | 2.9% | 4.6% | 23.0% | 72.4% | 16.0% |
| 72. | Bates College | Maine | 1.1% | 4.5% | 20.3% | 75.2% | 22.6% |
| 73. | Wake Forest U. | North Carolina | 2.6% | 4.5% | 17.9% | 77.5% | 30.3% |
| 74. | Oberlin College | Ohio | 1.9% | 4.3% | 22.5% | 73.2% | 28.0% |
| 75. | Colgate U. | New York | 8.1% | 4.2% | 20.1% | 75.7% | 28.8% |
| 76. | Tulane U. | Louisiana | 1.7% | 4.2% | 20.1% | 75.7% | 25.5% |
| 77. | Kenyon College | Ohio | 1.9% | 3.9% | 16.9% | 79.2% | 26.6% |
| 78. | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | New Mexico | 1.4% | 3.5% | 42.6% | 53.8% | 23.5% |
| 79. | Hope International U. | California | 13.9% | 3.5% | 49.8% | 46.7% | 32.1% |
| 80. | Washington and Lee U. | Virginia | 6.1% | 3.4% | 9.3% | 87.3% | 23.6% |
| 81. | Robert Morris U. Illinois | Illinois | 5.1% | 2.8% | 60.3% | 36.9% | 23.1% |
| 82. | Berea College | Kentucky | 1.3% | 2.1% | 33.4% | 64.4% | 32.8% |
| 83. | American Musical and Dramatic Academy | New York | 8.1% | 2.1% | 58.1% | 39.7% | 21.9% |
| 84. | Louisiana State U. at Alexandria | Louisiana | 1.7% | 1.6% | 30.2% | 68.2% | 33.3% |
| 85. | Liberty U. | Virginia | 6.1% | 1.5% | 28.0% | 70.5% | 24.4% |
| 86. | Howard U. | District of Columbia | 3.6% | 1.3% | 97.1% | 1.5% | 30.0% |
| 87. | Southern U. at New Orleans | Louisiana | 1.7% | 1.0% | 96.1% | 2.8% | 11.5% |
| 88. | Southwestern Assemblies of God U. | Texas | 4.4% | 0.9% | 40.3% | 58.8% | 23.5% |
| 89. | College of the Ozarks | Missouri | 1.8% | 0.8% | 5.4% | 93.8% | 14.2% |
| 90. | Florida A&M U. | Florida | 2.6% | 0.6% | 92.8% | 6.6% | 31.1% |
| 91. | Oakland City U. | Indiana | 2.0% | 0.3% | 6.5% | 93.2% | 33.1% |
| 92. | Paine College | Georgia | 3.7% | 0.2% | 96.9% | 2.9% | 24.6% |
| 93. | Fort Valley State U. | Georgia | 3.7% | 0.2% | 95.3% | 4.5% | 26.5% |
| 94. | Alice Lloyd College | Kentucky | 1.3% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 97.8% | 22.2% |
| 94. | Florida Memorial U. | Florida | 2.6% | 0.0% | 98.9% | 1.1% | 25.0% |
| | Over all for the 95 most-selective four-year colleges | | | 17.6% | 31.0% | 51.4% | 19.9% |
| | Over all for 2,333 four-year colleges | United States | 5.2% | 7.0% | 33.2% | 59.8% | 55.9% |
Note: Colleges are ranked by the percentage of Asian undergraduate enrollment. For the purposes of this table, “highly selective colleges” were those that accepted 33.3 percent or fewer of their applicants in 2016. Colleges with fewer than 500 undergraduates or fewer than 100 first-time students admitted in the fall of 2016 were excluded from the list of highly selective colleges but were included in the U.S. total figures. Percentages of Asians, other minorities, and whites were calculated by dividing their numbers into the total number of full-time and part-time undergraduate students minus the numbers of nonresident aliens and people whose race was unknown. Percentages are rounded, but institutions were ranked before rounding. Only degree-granting public and private nonprofit institutions that were eligible for Title IV federal financial aid were included. Percentages of Asian residents by state are based on five-year estimates of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012-2016 American Community Survey. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data