U.S. News & World Report: UH Hilo retains #1 ranking for most ethnically diverse campus

UH Hilo is again ranked the most ethnically diverse campus among national universities, according to U.S. News & World Report‘s analysis.

Chancellor stands with group of students, all 6-feet apart, with masks, in front of classroom building.
Chancellor Bonnie Irwin (center) stands with group of students in front of the University Classroom Building, UH Hilo campus, July 2020.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is once again the most ethnically diverse campus among national universities, according to U.S. News & World Report‘s Campus Ethnic Diversity of National Universities rankings. UH Hilo was named the most ethnically diverse campus in the national publication’s 2020 report.

Bonnie Irwin smiling for the camera
Bonnie D. Irwin

“Now more than ever, we need to find ways to connect and understand one another,” says Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin. “The rich diversity of UH Hilo’s campus ‘ohana helps us prepare all of our students for work and life in our increasingly diverse world.”

UH Hilo received a diversity index of 77 percent, followed by Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI) and University of Nevada – Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV) tied at 76 percent, and Rutgers University (Newark, NJ), Stanford University (Stanford, CA), and University of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA) tied at 75 percent.

The diversity index indicates that on a scale of 0 to 1, the closer the number is to one, the more diverse the student population. Data was derived from each institution’s fall 2019 total undergraduate degree-seeking student body as reported to U.S. News & World Report.

Students at UH Hilo in fall 2019 reported being 14.7 percent Asian, 9 percent Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 19.1 percent white, and 35.2 percent of two or more races.

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U.S. News and World Report: UH Hilo ranked as most ethnically diverse campus among national universities