Christian Higher Education Enrollment and Race/Ethnicity

My Canadian wife works extensively with international students at Baylor. Recently, she got to know two different Nigerian students. At one level, one would think that these international students from the same country would love to get together with one another. Yet, that view is premised on North American racial, ethnic, and national categories. It forgets the most basic level of human difference throughout history has been tribe (something the Bible recognizes). These two women are from hostile tribes (although not like the Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda).

The glorious thing is that they still have formed a wonderful friendship based on their Christian identity. It is one of those moments when one celebrates how Christianity can help us overcome tribal division (Col. 3:11). Sometimes, being in another culture can provide a context for redemptive healing. Truly, one day, people “from every nation, tribe, people, and language” will stand before the Lamb (Rev. 7:9).

I also tell this story to illustrate that racial and ethnic categories used in countries are always socially constructed and often only relevant to a particular national context.¹ For example, South Africa’s racial categories from its fallen past are different than those in the United States and its fallen past. These national categories are then usually reified in higher education statistics categories.

Such categories, however, cannot make sense of other kinds of diversity. For instance, one romantic couple I knew in college would be lumped in the same Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) “Asian” category. Yet, they were having problems with their parents because one was Korean-American and the other was Chinese-American. If anybody knows the history of the Korean War and China’s role in it (that the Korean parents experienced as children), one will better understand the parents’ difficulties (while hoping that Christianity can lead them past that history).  

I point out these things to acknowledge that IPEDS racial categories are not in any way ideal. That being said, these categories are what national statistics keepers use in America at the moment. Table 1 provides the racial breakdown of the percentage of students attending different categories of institutions using race/ethnicity:

Table 1. Enrollment at Christian University Groupings by Race/Ethnicity (Fall 2023)

Grouping	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian	Black or African American	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or more races	Race/ ethnicity unknown	U.S. Non-resident
Catholic	0%	7%	9%	17%	0%	52%	6%	5%	4%
CCCU	0%	4%	9%	15%	0%	56%	5%	6%	3%
HBCU	1%	0%	79%	3%	0%	2%	2%	10%	4%
IACE	0%	3%	9%	11%	0%	55%	4%	15%	2%
Unaffiliated Protestant (UP)	1%	4%	14%	17%	1%	52%	4%	7%	2%
Mainline Protestant (MLP)	1%	2%	10%	10%	0%	62%	4%	6%	4%
Secular 4 year privates (22)*	0%	7.5%	12%	13%	0%	54%	4%		9%
Secular 4 year publics (22)*	1%	8%	11%	19%	0%	51%	4%		6%

*Note: the 2022 IPEDS Enrollment by Race table data that is linked in the table calculates percentages without including U.S. nonresidents. Thus, I had to recalculate the percentages to include U.S. non-residents. In addition, the 2022 enrollment numbers did not list students whose race or ethnicity was unknown. 

The least diverse group, for historical reasons, is historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). They are the only institutions with close to four-fifths of students from one racial category. The non-HBCU grouping with the highest percentage of African-American/Black (14%) and Hispanic (17%) students is the Unaffiliated Protestant (UP) universities group—meaning they do not belong to a larger coalition. In fact, UP institutions have the highest % of African-American/Black enrollment outside of HBCUs—even more than public universities.

Interestingly, three sectors of Christian higher education, Catholic, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), and UP, actually attract a higher percentage of Hispanic students than four-year secular private universities. The only major area of IPEDS diversity where Christian universities are consistently below secular institutions is with Asian students.

As one can see, Mainline Protestant institutions have the highest enrollment of white students (62%), which is 10% more than either Catholic or Unaffiliated Protestant institutions and 6 to 7% more than Council for Christian University (CCCU)/International Association for Christian Education (IACE) institutions that are normally understood as evangelical. Oddly, one historian recently derogatorily defined post-WWII evangelicals as “white.”² The reality is that this description applies more to Mainline Protestant institutions, which as I noted recently are rapidly secularizing.

Overall, 42% of Christian universities have 50% or less white enrollment. Moreover, one can find ten Christian institutions where not one of the major four IPEDs racial groups is more than 40% of the enrollment and none of the four major groups is less than 8% (see Table 2). These are the most diverse institutions.

   Table 2. Most Diverse Christian Universities

Name	Grouping	% Asian	% Black/ African-America	% Hispanic	% White	Mixed Race	Glanzer OCIG #
Amberton University	UP	10%	32%	16%	24%	0%	8
Andrews University	UP	12%	17%	20%	22%	6%	16
Augsburg University	MLP	11%	29%	14%	13%	7%	4.5
Loyola Marymount University	Catholic	10%	8%	24%	40%	8%	11.5
Mount Mary University	Catholic	10%	21%	33%	30%	2%	12
North Park University	CCCU	8%	9%	34%	30%	3%	16
Saint Peter’s University	Catholic	9%	17%	40%	24%	0%	11.5
Seattle Pacific University	CCCU	16%	8%	18%	38%	10%	20
Seattle University	Catholic	27%	7%	15%	31%	10%	8.5
Warner Pacific University	CCCU	13%	13%	31%	33%	3%	16

Note: For more on what the Glanzer OCIG score is see What Is a Christian University? A New Book That Answers This Question – Christian Scholar’s Review

High Percent and Number of African-American Serving Institutions

If one looks deeper into the numbers, one finds they tell a different story than one is likely to pick up from the historian I mentioned earlier. Consider the enrollment of Black or African Americans. Currently, two conservative Christian institutions, Grand Canyon and Liberty University, enroll more Black or African American students (26,486) than the 35 private Historically Black Colleges and Universities that operationalize some element of Christian identity combined (25,730) (see Table 3). More astute historians will look back on the institutions started by “white Religious Right” leaders such as Jerry Falwell (Liberty University) and Pat Robertson (Regent University) and note both institutions’ inordinate enrollment of African Americans.

Table 3. Christian Universities with Highest # African-American/Black Enrollment

Name	Confession	Grouping	#	Glanzer OCIG #
Grand Canyon University	Baptist	UP	17,210	14.5
Liberty University	Baptist-Independent	IACE	9,276	20
Indiana Wesleyan University- Global	Wesleyan Church	CCCU	3,060	19
Spelman College	Baptist	HBCU	2,688	1
Regent University	Evangelical/Nondenominational	CCCU	2,440	20

With regard to percentage, there are five Protestant Christian universities outside of HBCU institutions with over two-fifths of Black/African American enrollment (see Table 4). The top five Catholic institutions, outside of Xavier New Orleans—the major Catholic HBCU, also have similarly high percentages (see Table 5)

Table 4. Non-HBCU Protestant Universities with Highest % African American/Black Enrollment

Name	Confession	Grouping	%	Glanzer OCIG #
Amridge University (AL)	Churches of Christ	UA	67%	7
Chowan University	Baptist	UP	50%	10
Wesleyan College (GA)	Methodist Episcopal Church	MLP	46%	2.5
Belhaven University	Presbyterian USA	CCCU	42%	18
North Carolina Wesleyan College	United Methodist	MLP	42%	3.5

Table 5. Non HBCU Catholic Universities with Highest % African American/Black Enrollment

Name	Order/Diocesan	%	Glanzer OCIG #
Elms College	Sisters of St. Joseph	69%	8.5
Trinity University (DC)	Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur	53%	7.5
Donnelly College	Diocesan	41%	9
Saint Elizabeth University	Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth	37%	6.5
Villa Maria College of Buffalo	Felician	36%	8.5

Hispanic Serving Institutions

The largest Hispanic-serving institutions, when it comes to raw numbers, are either Baptist or Catholic (see Table 6).

Table 6. Christian Universities with Highest # Hispanic Enrollment

Name	Denomination/Order	Grouping	#	Glanzer OCIG #
Grand Canyon University (AZ)	Baptist	UP	25,815	14.5
Liberty University (VA)	Baptist-Independent	IACE	7,215	20
De Paul University (IL)	Vincentian	Catholic	5,124	7.5
California Baptist University	Baptist	CCCU/IACE	4,791	16
University of the Incarnate Word (TX)	Sisters of Charity	Catholic	4,173	9.5

Not surprisingly, there are numerous Protestant institutions whose percentage of enrollment is over half or close to half Hispanic. The top five Protestant institutions are located in the Southwest (see Table 7). The top five Catholic universities with Hispanic enrollment over 50% are similar with only one outlier outside the Southwest (see Table 8).

Table 7. Protestant Universities with Highest % Hispanic Enrollment

Name	Denomination/Tradition	Grouping	%	Glanzer OCIG #
University of the Southwest (NM)	Evangelical/Nondenominational	CCCU	63%	14
Fresno Pacific University (CA)	Mennonite Brethren	CCCU	61%	16
La Sierra University (CA)	Seventh-Day Adventist	UP	49%	15
Southwestern Adventist University (TX)	Seventh-Day Adventist	UP	49%	16
Los Angeles Pacific University	Evangelical	CCCU	47%	13

Table 8. Catholic Universities with Highest % Hispanic Enrollment

Name	Order/Diocesan	%	Glanzer OCIG #
Our Lady of the Lake University (TX)	Diocesan	73%	10.5
Dominican University (IL)	Dominican	65%	13
University of the Incarnate Word (TX)	Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word	65%	9.5
Notre Dame de Namur University (CA)	Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur	57%	5.5
Saint Edward’s University (TX)	Holy Cross	55%	8

Asian-Serving Institutions

 As already mentioned, Christian universities have the least success attracting Asian students. As a result, one finds that the highest Protestant-serving institutions are one university that focuses on teaching in Korean and three other Seventh-Day Adventist institutions (see Table 9). All of them are also on the West Coast.

Table 9. Protestant Universities with Highest % Asian Enrollment

Name	Denomination	Grouping	%	Glanzer OCIG #
World Mission University	Nondenominational	UP	41%	25
Loma Linda University	Seventh-Day Adventist	UP	22%	15
Pacific Union College	Seventh-Day Adventist	UP	21%	15
La Sierra University	Seventh-Day Adventist	UP	18%	18
Seattle Pacific University	Free Methodist	CCCU	16%	20

A few Catholic universities on the West Coast have a slightly high percentage of Asian students, although as Table 14 demonstrates, there is not a Catholic university with Asian students comprising more than 27% of enrollment (see Table 10).

Table 10. Catholic Universities with Highest % Asian Enrollment

Name	Denomination/ Order	#	Glanzer OCIG #
Grand Canyon University	Baptist	3,227	14.5
Georgetown University	Jesuit	2,855	8.5
De Paul University	Vincentian	2,562	7.5
Saint John’s University (NY)	Vincentian	2,560	12
University of San Francisco	Jesuit	2,395	9

In terms of raw numbers, there is only one Protestant university and three Catholic universities with over 2,500 Asian students (see Table 11).

Table 11. Catholic Universities with Highest # Asian Enrollment

Name	Denomination/ Order	#	Glanzer OCIG #
Grand Canyon University	Baptist	3,227	14.5
Georgetown University	Jesuit	2,855	8.5
De Paul University	Vincentian	2,562	7.5
Saint John’s University (NY)	Vincentian	2,560	12
University of San Francisco	Jesuit	2,395	9

Conclusion

 In general, Christian universities have kept pace with their secular peers when it comes to the enrollment of racial and/or ethnic minorities. Indeed, they are taking the lead among private universities with Hispanic students and one category of CHE has the largest African-American enrollment outside of HBCUs. We should celebrate this present diversity as reflecting God’s future Kingdom where every tribe, tongue, and nation will be present (which is much more diversity than captured by the four categories that are the usual American focus and the focus of this blog post) while always acknowledging that there is still always work to be done to welcome every tribe or people group at our institutions. 

1. Kim F. Hall Things of Darkness: Economies of Race and Gender in Early Modern England (Cornell University Press, 2018), https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501725456.
2. Matthew Avery Sutton, “Redefining the History and Historiography on American Evangelicalism in the Era of the Religious Right,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 92, no. 1 (2024): 37–60, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfae063