The percentage of graduate students who are members of minority groups continues to increase, according to an annual survey of graduate schools released on Thursday. The Survey of Graduate Enrollment was conducted jointly by the Council of Graduate Schools and the Graduate Record Examinations Board.

The survey found that while graduate enrollments increased by 2 percent this year, most of that growth came from upturns in the number of minorities, women and students from overseas pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees. The trendlines for white students, males and U.S. citizens or permanent residents, meanwhile, remained flat.

Kenneth E. Redd, the director of research and policy analysis at the council, said he attributed the boost in international enrollment (documented in another recent CGS report) to efforts by Congress and the State Department to ease the process of entering the United States on a student visa. The U.S. “is still seen as the premier place in the world to study, particularly for students from India and China, which are our two largest sending countries,” he said.

About 28 percent of graduate students at the institutions surveyed in 2006 were members of minority groups, compared with 26 percent the year before. That includes both underrepresented minorities — defined as Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanics — as well as Asian or Pacific Islander students who are disproportionately represented at the graduate level. Over the past 10 years, minority growth has been especially concerted for African Americans (from 8 to 13 percent of the total grad student population) and Hispanic students (from 5 to 8 percent of the total). The latter group grew the fastest, at an average of 5 percent a year.

The biggest percentage jump in enrollment came from the group with the fewest students: Native Americans saw a 9 percent increase, despite remaining at about 1 percent of the overall graduate student population. They also saw double-digit growth in the specific fields of physical sciences, engineering and biological sciences.

Excerpt From: http://insidehighered.com By: Andy Guess

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