Racial and ethnic diversity has long been an important enrollment outcome at DePaul. Strategies to achieve that diversity have never paid off like they did this fall, when DePaul set numerous diversity records across nearly every student segment.
“We always have student diversity at the forefront of our multifaceted enrollment strategy because diversity is so integral to DePaul’s mission and identity,” explains David Kalsbeek, senior vice president of Enrollment Management and Marketing.
The 8,229 students of color* enrolled this fall (35 percent of all students) represent institutional records for both number and proportion of the student body. These results build from record-level outcomes across the undergraduate, graduate and law populations, including:
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Largest number and proportion of undergraduate students of color: 6,065 students/38 percent.
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Largest proportion of graduate students of color: 29 percent.
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Largest proportion of law students of color: 25 percent.
The historic diversity outcomes were mirrored in new student enrollment, including:
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Largest proportion of freshman students of color: 36 percent.
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Largest number and proportion of transfer students of color: 724 students/45 percent.
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Largest number and proportion of new graduate students of color: 533 students/29 percent.
DePaul recorded multiple records for students historically underrepresented in higher education, which includes African-American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native students:
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Largest proportion of underrepresented students of color (overall): 24 percent.
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Largest proportion of undergraduate underrepresented students of color: 26 percent.
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Largest proportion of graduate underrepresented students of color: 19 percent.
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Largest proportion of law underrepresented students of color: 19 percent.
* Students classified as students of color are those who self-identify as African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, multiracial/non-Hispanic, Asian and Hispanic/Latino.