Newsweek’s List of the Most Diverse College Campuses

It seems like everyone is getting into the college rankings competition. U.S News & World Report remains the most widely cited ranking organization but many others are jumping on the bandwagon.

Newsweek recently released its rankings of the colleges and universities with the most diverse student bodies. To compile its rankings, the magazine considered the percentage of black and Hispanic students and the percentage of women in the student body. Also, the magazine factored in geographic and socioeconomic diversity. The percentage of students from out of state, the percentage of foreign students, and the percentage of students from low-income families (as measured by the percentage of students receiving federal Pell Grants) were components of the ranking. Finally, Newsweek gave positive weight to campuses that were identified as “gay-friendly” by other organizations.

Using these criteria, the University of Pennsylvania was ranked as having the most diverse student body. Brown University ranked second and Oberlin College was third. Rounding out the top 10 most diverse campuses were Swarthmore College, New York University, American University, Wesleyan University, Duke University, Princeton University, and MIT.

Copyright © 2010. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.