The 25 Most Diverse Schools

It may be called American University and located in the U.S. capital, but this college is as international as they come. The private, liberal arts school draws about 6 percent of its student body from 139 countries outside the United States and sends many of its students back into the world through robust study-abroad programs. The largest undergraduate program is international studies, with nearly 1,700 of its 6,200 undergrads majoring in that field. Not surprising for a school that was ranked by Princeton Review as No. 1 on its list of schools with "the most politically active students."
 
Though American University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the school has 23 faiths represented by student groups, from Buddhist and Hindu to Muslim and Unitarian Universalist. Five percent of its student body is Asian, four percent is African-American, four percent is Hispanic and 62 percent are women. It lands at No. 6 on NEWSWEEK's list of most diverse colleges.
 
With praise from both The Advocate and InsideCollege.com, Newsweek also ranks the school the sixth best gay-friendly in the nation.   
 
AU students averaged a 30 on the ACT and a 1370 on the SAT.

To rank colleges and universities by diversity, we took a broad view of related issues, including ethnicity, geographic origin,  economic status, gender,  and sexual orientation. Read more about our methodology here.