| 'While 8% of Notre Dame's students may be Asian, that's really not much, considering that a disproportinate number of college students are Asian.'
Just how many Asian-American college students do you think there are? According to the US Dept of Education, the percentage of Asians enrolled in higher education is.... 6.4%. So, Notre Dame actually does enroll a disproportionate number of Asians. It's not fair to compare Notre Dame with a handful of "outlier" schools where Asian students are over-represented.
And I heartily agree that diversity is about more than numbers, which is why I continue to object to the oft-repeated statement on these boards that Notre Dame lacks "diversity." How many other colleges out there can claim to host not only the Vagina Monologues but a regular Tridentine Latin Mass, along with a full complement of Division I sports teams and numerous club teams? How many other comparable schools send graduates not only to top law, medical, and business schools, but also to the ACE program to teach in impoverished Catholic schools?
"If half of Notre Dame students are on financial aid, that means that HALF PAY OUT OF POCKET, or CAN AFFORD TO PAY nearly $50K each year."
No, that means that many Notre Dame families rely on loans because they don't qualify for financial aid, but cannot possibly pay $50K out of pocket. And, as you acknowledged, the economic demographics at Notre Dame are not much different than those at comparable schools. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of truly impoverished students at most of the nation's top universities. |