AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin enrolled a greater number of Asian American, Black and Hispanic students to graduate programs during the 2020-21 spring and fall semesters. Additionally, the university received a greater number of applications and admitted a greater number of these students.
Overall graduate enrollment declined this year by 5.1 percent, led by a smaller number of international students enrolling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2018, the Graduate School has prioritized furthering diversity of underrepresented minority (URM) students on campus. The Graduate School has launched targeted diversity recruitment efforts at the graduate level.
Among its other efforts to increase diversity, the Graduate School has joined national consortiums including the California Alliance Research Exchange Program dedicated to increasing opportunities in the professoriate for URM groups.
Notable fall enrollment figures (all comparisons are year over year, from fall 2019 to fall 2020):
- Overall, applications from all graduate students increased 2.3 percent; admitted rates increased 8 percent; and enrollment rates decreased 5.1 percent.
- Applications from American Indian/Alaska Native graduate students decreased 33.3 percent; admitted rates decreased 36.4 percent; and enrollment rates remained the same.
- Applications from Asian American graduate students increased 14.3 percent; admitted rates increased 20 percent; and enrollment rates increased 10 percent.
- Applications from Black graduate students increased 13 percent; admitted rates increased 24 percent; and enrollment rates increased 2.6 percent. (This category includes both “Black or African American alone” and “Black or African American multiracial, excluding Hispanic.”)
- Applications from Hispanic graduate students increased 13.6 percent; admitted rates increased 20.7 percent; and enrollment rates increased 17.6 percent.
- Applications from international graduate students decreased 3.6 percent; admitted rates decreased 0.3 percent; and enrollment rates decreased 36.4 percent.
- Applications from students of two or more ethnicities (excluding Hispanic and Black) increased 17.7 percent; admitted rates increased 23.6 percent; and enrollment rates increased 29 percent.
“There is still much work to ensure that our campus reflects the diversity of our state and country, but these initiatives are only first steps,” said Mark J. T. Smith, dean of the Graduate School and senior vice provost for academic affairs. “In addition to recruiting diverse students, it is vital that the university provides them with the resources to thrive once they arrive on campus. The Graduate School has identified many resources and areas of improvement that the university will be working to implement in the future.”