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Each undergraduate class at the University of Georgia is over 70 percent White with only less than 10 percent Black/African American. The data from the UGA Factbook presents alarming numbers surrounding the issue of diversity at UGA.

Under the chapter Characteristics of Enrolled Students by Class Fall 2010, anyone can access the data regarding ethnic origin in the UGA Factbook. For Fall 2010, there were 25,947 undergraduate students enrolled, 20,041 of which identified themselves as White.

The freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes all have a similar statistical break down for each ethnic origin, and no once class shows numbers not comparable to the others. All of them have the least amount of American Indians and Pacific Islanders and are made up of mostly White students.

Each class also has more Asians than Black students. While the numbers are low for both categories, for the total undergraduate students, there are 249 more Asian students than Black students.

“It is important to just take the numbers for what they are,” said Charles Mathies, a research analyst for the Office of Institutional Research.

With all the percentages presented so similarly, it makes one question exactly what role does ethnicity play in the admissions process for the university?

When students identify their ethnic origin upon arriving at UGA, they have seven options to choose from: American Indian, Asian, Black/African American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Multiracial, and White. If a student does not wish to choose one of the seven options provided, they can choose to be “Not Reported.” The Not Reported students throw a slight wrench in the analysis of the data.

All the data is reported by the University of Georgia Office of Institutional Research. According to their mission statement, the OIR office is responsible for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data to support institutional management, operations and decision-making. The Factbook is a compilation of much of this data.