<p>I heard from some people that ND loves diversity and they want lots and lots of diversity at their school? Is that true?</p>
<p>Is that true? Yes. The administration (I’ve talked with some on visits) really wants a diverse school.</p>
<p>However, in reality, when you have a school that so emphasizes Catholicism (which isn’t bad, don’t get me wrong - I’m Catholic) you’re probably going to discourage those who are not Catholic, or at least Christian, from applying. Thus, significantly less diversity than other top schools - and it’s noticeable on campus.</p>
<p>Google “notre dame student demographics”. I believe it’s nearly (or over) 90% white, and nearly as much, or more, Christian.</p>
<p>It depends upon what you mean by “diversity.” Notre Dame has a student body that is about 80-85% Catholic, and the administration has no plans to reduce that percentage. But self-reported Catholics in this country are not that much different from their non-Catholic counterparts on social/political issues. Approximately 24% of the students are minorities (mostly Hispanic and Asian) – in fact, the student body has demographics that are essentially the same as the United States as a whole. There are students here from every part of the country and from overseas. During the last presidential election, the mock election results were fairly evenly split between Obama and McCain (I challenge you to name another top university with a similar breakdown). </p>
<p>There are older threads on this forum that address this issue. Check them out.</p>
<p>They are around 80-85% Catholic.</p>
<p>As of 2004:</p>
<pre><code>* Among the 8332 undergraduates enrolled, the percentage who are women is 46.84%.
- Among the 8332 undergraduates enrolled, the percentage who identify as White is 78.19%.
- The percentage who identify as Hispanic is 8.19%. Asians comprise 5.38%; Blacks comprise 3.70%; Native Americans comprise 0.68%, and Non-Resident Aliens comprise 3.86%.
</code></pre>
<p>So it’s much more diverse than 90% white, though Blacks are badly underrepresented. However, they are much less likely to be Catholic than Whites and Hispanics, so it does make sense.</p>
<p>According to the US census, 72.4% of the US population identifies as White. If it’s 78% at Notre Dame, that’s barely more than average. Keep in mind that Whites are more likely to go to college (though minorities are making strides to close that gap; and Asians are already ahead of Whites) and, along with Hispanics, more likely to be Catholic, it makes sense.</p>
<p>Sorry about the high estimate - I searched for stats again and I got 78%. I think the stat I had been thinking of was for one of the specific colleges.</p>
<p>That said, whatever the percentage, whenever I’m on ND’s campus, it has felt significantly less diverse (in terms of ethnicity) than other campuses I’ve visited :/</p>