Nearly three in four Hispanic high school students said racial and ethnic diversity was among the key elements for them in choosing a college or university, according to a survey of minority students who were high school upper classmen or college students. Two-thirds of Hispanic college students and 68 percent of all responders reported that campus diversity was among the important reasons they would choose their college.
Twelve percent of all students and 8 percent of Hispanic students said it was the most critical factor in their choice.
The online survey was conducted in August 2007 by Widmeyer Communications, a research and public relations firm based in New York and Washington, among 11th and 12th graders and college students. A total of 982 surveys were received, and 42.5 percent were Hispanic (418). This is the first time that the firm has done the survey, and no data was solicited from students who were not in a minority group.
Sixty-six percent of Hispanic high school students surveyed said they expected more diversity in college then in their high school. More than half of both Hispanics and other minorities expected to socialize and study with students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds in college then they did in high school. Once in college, 23 percent of all Hispanics say they “see students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds socializing and studying together more than they expected.”
Encouraging Diversity
Seventy-six percent of the high school students and 74 percent of the college students said they believed colleges and universities could do more to encourage diversity on their campuses. The numbers were the same for both Hispanic high school and college students. Only 16 percent of Hispanics thought their college campus was less diverse than they expected, and 15 percent saw less diversity in socializing and studying on campus.
