OSU Diversity Over the Decades

The push for diversity has been widespread among universities lately, and at OSU, it’s become almost as popular as puns based around the word “dam.”

But is it working? Using public data from OSU’s Department of Institutional Research, we’ll be taking a look at OSU’s enrollment summaries to see how much the student population has changed over the years.

Starting with diversity among the sexes, the split between men and women at OSU has remained surprisingly stable throughout the past two decades. This isn’t a bad thing however, as OSU has had a consistently even split between the two sexes, with around 47 percent of the student population being women and the other 53 percent being men. It’s remained this way since at least the year 2000, all the way up to the current term. According to collegefactual.com, this ratio already places OSU in the top 20 percent of all U.S. colleges.

Racial diversity is an area that OSU has seen great growth in over the past twenty years. In the fall term of 2000, U.S. minorities made up 13.5 percent of the overall student population. This number has steadily grown, rising to 16.1 percent in the fall term of 2010, all the way up to 25.3 percent in the current term.

OSU has also seen a huge uptick in non-residential student enrollment, as more people from other parts of the U.S., and other parts of the world, come to Corvallis seeking a higher education. In the fall term of 2000, Oregon residents made up 77.9 percent of the student population, with students from other parts of the U.S. making up 15.2 percent, and international students making up only 6.9 percent. Jump forward to the winter term of 2020, and non-residents now make up 44.4 percent of the student population, with international students making up 11 percent.

So yes! It’s been a good couple of decades for diversity at OSU. In relation to both national rates and its own history, OSU’s student population is becoming increasingly varied — a dam good job.

Special thanks OSU’s Department of Institutional Research for working to make this data available. The enrollment summaries referenced in this article can be accessed at institutionalresearch.oregonstate.edu.

Pictures either public or used with permission