Best Colleges: Racial Diversity: Master's Universities (West)

Collegebound students who believe that studying with people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds is important will want to consider student-body diversity when choosing a school. To identify colleges where students are most likely to encounter undergraduates from racial or ethnic groups different from their own, U.S. News factors in the total proportion of minority students; leaving out international students; and the overall mix of groups. The data are drawn from each institution's 2008-2009 student body. The categories we use in our calculations are American Indians and Native Alaskans, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, African-Americans who are non-Hispanic, whites who are non-Hispanic, and Hispanics. Students who did not identify themselves as members of any demographic group were classified as whites who are non-Hispanic. Our formula produces a diversity index that ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. The closer a school's number is to 1.0, the more diverse is the student population.

Methodology

	Diversity index
La Sierra University Riverside, CA	0.72
California State University--East Bay Hayward, CA	0.71
Houston Baptist University Houston, TX	0.71
California State University--Dominguez Hills Carson, CA	0.70
California State University--Sacramento Sacramento, CA	0.70
California State University--Long Beach Long Beach, CA	0.69
California State Polytechnic University--Pomona Pomona, CA	0.69
Mount St. Mary's College Los Angeles, CA	0.68
California State University--Fullerton Fullerton, CA	0.67
California State University--San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA	0.67
California State University--Fresno Fresno, CA	0.67
California State University--Northridge Northridge, CA	0.67
San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	0.67
San Jose State University San Jose, CA	0.67
California State University--Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	0.65
Holy Names University Oakland, CA	0.65
California State University--Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA	0.65
University of St. Thomas Houston, TX	0.64
Hawaii Pacific University Honolulu, HI	0.64
University of Texas--San Antonio San Antonio, TX	0.63
Dominican University of California San Rafael, CA	0.63
Woodbury University Burbank, CA	0.63
California State University--Stanislaus Turlock, CA	0.61
Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	0.60
Notre Dame de Namur University Belmont, CA	0.60
Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth, TX	0.60
St. Mary's College of California Moraga, CA	0.58
Texas A&M University--Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX	0.57
California State University--San Marcos San Marcos, CA	0.57
Cameron University Lawton, OK	0.56
University of the Incarnate Word San Antonio, TX	0.56
Lamar University Beaumont, TX	0.56
University of Texas of the Permian Basin Odessa, TX	0.56
Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA	0.55
University of the Southwest Hobbs, NM	0.55
Southeastern Oklahoma State University Durant, OK	0.55
St. Edward's University Austin, TX	0.55
Seattle University Seattle, WA	0.55
Eastern New Mexico University Portales, NM	0.54
Northeastern State University Tahlequah, OK	0.54
Mills College Oakland, CA	0.52
Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	0.52
Angelo State University San Angelo, TX	0.51
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM	0.50
Alaska Pacific University Anchorage, AK	0.49
California Baptist University Riverside, CA	0.49
Dallas Baptist University Dallas, TX	0.49
Stephen F. Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX	0.49
Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, TX	0.48
Texas State University--San Marcos San Marcos, TX	0.48
Chaminade University of Honolulu Honolulu, HI	0.47
Wayland Baptist University Plainview, TX	0.47
University of Alaska--Anchorage Anchorage, AK	0.46
LeTourneau University Longview, TX	0.46
Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	0.46
St. Martin's University Lacey, WA	0.46
Hope International University Fullerton, CA	0.45
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Belton, TX	0.45
St. Mary's University of San Antonio San Antonio, TX	0.44
California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA	0.43
Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City, OK	0.43
Our Lady of the Lake University San Antonio, TX	0.43
West Texas A&M University Canyon, TX	0.43
Southern Nazarene University Bethany, OK	0.42
California Polytechnic State University--San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	0.41
Concordia University Irvine, CA	0.41
Trinity University San Antonio, TX	0.40
Chapman University Orange, CA	0.39
University of Redlands Redlands, CA	0.39
University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK	0.39
Humboldt State University Arcata, CA	0.38
Lubbock Christian University Lubbock, TX	0.38
University of Dallas Irving, TX	0.38
California State University--Chico Chico, CA	0.37
Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	0.36
Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA	0.36
Regis University Denver, CO	0.36
Walla Walla University College Place, WA	0.36
Southwestern Oklahoma State University Weatherford, OK	0.35
Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	0.35
University of Texas--Tyler Tyler, TX	0.34
Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	0.33
University of Colorado--Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO	0.33
Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA	0.32
Evergreen State College Olympia, WA	0.32
University of Portland Portland, OR	0.31
University of Great Falls Great Falls, MT	0.30
Western Oregon University Monmouth, OR	0.30
Abilene Christian University Abilene, TX	0.30
Colorado Christian University Lakewood, CO	0.27
Southern Oregon University Ashland, OR	0.25
Boise State University Boise, ID	0.24
Oklahoma Christian University Oklahoma City, OK	0.24
Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA	0.24
Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA	0.24
Prescott College Prescott, AZ	0.22
Westminster College Salt Lake City, UT	0.22
Gonzaga University Spokane, WA	0.22
Montana State University--Billings Billings, MT	0.20
Prairie View A&M University Prairie View, TX	0.20
Eastern Oregon University La Grande, OR	0.19
Whitworth University Spokane, WA	0.19
Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT	0.17
Weber State University Ogden, UT	0.17
Northwest Nazarene University Nampa, ID	0.13
University of Texas--Pan American Edinburg, TX	0.13
Texas A&M International University Laredo, TX	0.08

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Best Colleges: Racial Diversity: Master's Universities (West)

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