Characteristics of Minority-Serving Institutions and Minority Undergraduates Enrolled in These Institutions

Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are colleges and universities serving a large percentage of minority students. This study identifies six different subgroups of MSIs and analyzes them from the perspective of the institution and the student. First, using the 2004 Fall Enrollment Survey, a census survey component of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the study compares all subgroups of MSIs to one another and to non-MSIs. Second, from the perspective of the students, data from the 2003-04 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:04) is used to examine how minority students differ, in demographic and enrollment characteristics, by the type of institution. Major findings are as follows: MSIs totaled 1,254 in 2004, accounting for just under one-third of all degree-granting Title IV institutions; they enrolled nearly sixty percent of the 4.7 million minority undergraduates. Hispanic-serving institutions and Black-serving (non-HBCUs) accounted for 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively of MSIs followed by Asian-serving (8 percent), HBCUs (5 percent), and American Indian-serving institutions (1 percent). The majority of students in Hispanic- and Black-serving MSIs were enrolled in public 2-year institutions. Four-year MSIs (except for Asian-serving) had a higher percentage of institutions with open admissions policy and institutions with at least half low-income enrollment compared with non-MSIs.

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