<p>investor, the data would seem to say otherwise. I know UR isn’t the <em>most</em> diverse school out there, but your comparisons to Vanderbilt and Boston University took me by surprise. I notice you’ve been commenting on this board for a number of years. Perhaps it’s been a little while since you visited UR, but things have changed a lot in the past 4-5 years (my time there).</p>
<p>If you mean ethnic/racial diversity, then UR sits comfortably at 28% minority students, between Vandy at 25% and BU at 32.3%.</p>
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[The</a> Vanderbilt Difference | Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/apply/vanderbilt-difference.php]The”>http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/apply/vanderbilt-difference.php)
[About</a> BU: Fast Facts Undergraduate Admissions | Boston University](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/bu-basics/fast-facts/]About”>http://www.bu.edu/admissions/bu-basics/fast-facts/)</p>
<p>If you mean socioeconomic diversity, UR has a greater percentage of students receiving aid (69%, [Prospective</a> Undergraduates - Financial Aid - University of Richmond](<a href=“Financial Aid - University of Richmond”>Financial Aid - University of Richmond)) than either Vanderbilt (62%, [ReVU:</a> Quick Facts about Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Tennessee](<a href=“http://www.vanderbilt.edu/info/facts/]ReVU:”>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/info/facts/)) or BU (57%, [Tuition</a>, Room and Board to Rise 3.79 Percent | BU Today | Boston University](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/tuition-room-and-board-to-rise/]Tuition”>http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/tuition-room-and-board-to-rise/)).</p>
<p>Or perhaps a better indicator of socioeconomic diversity would be the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants. That would be 13% of Vandy’s undergrads, 15% of BU’s, and 17% of UR’s (see USNWR [Economic</a> Diversity | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/economic-diversity]Economic”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/economic-diversity)). This is a good dipstick for how things have changed at UR; when I started at UR, only 9% of students were Pell-eligible. That’s close to a 100% increase in five years.</p>
<p>Spiders05 already mentioned the recent 4-star LGBT rating, which ties UR with Vandy (also 4 stars). BU isn’t included on that list.</p>
<p>All three schools have similar geographic diversity, with 80-84% of students coming from out of state (UR at 83%), and with 9-11% international students (UR at 10%).</p>
<p>Granted, this diversity was not always the case at UR even in recent history, so it’s easy to understand how misconceptions exist. But UR has seen a huge increase in all forms of diversity in a very short period of time, and it remains a high priority for the president and administration. In fact, if you consider concrete recent growth in diversity over time, or an institutional commitment to diversity resulting in tangible recent gains, I think UR clearly takes the cake among the schools mentioned.</p>