Northern Illinois University’s College of Business. Courtesy photo
Research and science have proven the benefits of diversity in virtually all aspects of life. The classroom is no different. Classroom diversity can improve cognitive skills and critical thinking, help children and students transition to adulthood, and promote creativity.
At Poets&Quants, we believe diversity is a crucial aspect of a business education. So each year when we publish our rankings of best undergraduate business programs, we ask schools to report diversity numbers. Specifically, we ask schools to report the percentage of under-represented U.S. minorities for their most recent incoming class of business students.
This past fall (2020), no other school had a higher percentage of U.S. minorities enter their business school than the University of Texas at Arlington, which reported a U.S. minority percentage of 70.50%. The percentage is a jump from last year’s 63.00% and propels UT Arlington into the top spot for highest percentage of U.S. minority students enrolled in a top business school.
SAME TOP FOUR SCHOOLS AS LAST YEAR
UT Arlington passed last year’s school enrolling the most minority business students, Florida International University. Last year, FIU had a minority student rate of 86.00%. This year, the number fell to 65.00%. Business schools at Northern Illinois University and Rutgers-Newark placed in third and fourth, respectively, for the second year in a row. However, Northern Illinois increased the percentage of minority students from last, jumping from 46.30% to 50.20%. Meanwhile, Rutgers-Newark dropped from 44.00% to 41.00% this year.
Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business lept from 29.70% last year to 39.00% this year. The University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management slipped slightly from 39.65% last year to 38.57%.
| Rank | School | % Minority |
|---|---|---|
| 91 | University of Texas At Arlington | 70.50 |
| 86 | Florida International University | 65.00 |
| 77 | Northern Illinois University | 50.20 |
| 75 | Rutgers Business School At Newark | 41.00 |
| 25 | Fordham University | 39.00 |
| 49 | University of Arizona | 38.57 |
| 58 | Rochester Institute of Technology | 38.40 |
| 61 | The College of New Jersey | 38.00 |
| 70 | University of the Pacific | 31.20 |
| 13 | Villanova University | 30.40 |
At the other end, the University of New Hampshire’s Paul School of Business reported the lowest percentage of minority students enrolling last fall at 3.60%. Miami University in Ohio followed with 5.40%. Michigan State University’s Broad School of Business (6.40%), the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management (6.88%), and Ohio University (7.50%) rounded out the five schools with the lowest percentage of minority students.
| Rank | School | % Minority |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Indiana University | 8.81 |
| 37 | Wake Forest University | 8.80 |
| 28 | Binghamton University | 8.70 |
| 34 | University of Massachusetts At Amherst | 8.20 |
| 23 | University of Richmond | 8.00 |
| 74 | Ohio University | 7.50 |
| 14 | University of Minnesota | 6.88 |
| 40 | Michigan State University | 6.40 |
| 39 | Miami University (Ohio) | 5.40 |
| 55 | University of New Hampshire | 3.60 |
See the next page for minority data on all 93 ranked schools.
POETS&QUANTS BEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS RANKINGS STORIES:
WHARTON TOPS P&Q RANKINGS FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR
THE FULL METHODOLOGY FOR THE 2021 RANKING
THE DATA DUMP: ALL DATA USED FOR THE 2021 RANKING
REPORT CARD: HOW ALUMNI GRADE THEIR B-SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
ACCEPTANCE RATES AT THE TOP UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS
AVERAGE SAT & ACT SCORES AT THE TOP B-SCHOOLS
