ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the profiles and patterns of student life – by institutional type, fields of study, and other characteristics. This is an analysis of the differences and complexities associated with universal access to higher education. Whether parsed by race, gender, ethnicity, religion, age, native language, geography, or social class, it is the diversity of American students that shapes the college experience. At the same time, along with this diversification, there are strands of continuity and privilege in who goes where to college. The chapter provides a glimpse at this fluidity and complexity. The central question for probing how a campus promotes diversity and social justice is whether gains in admission and access are followed by comparable advances and opportunities for new students within campus life and activities. A good way to think about and explore the question is to see whether or not a particular campus has made the transition from access to inclusion of newcomers.
