As outlined in this recent article by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, students from underrepresented communities lead all growth in the 2024-25 admissions cycle.

More specifically:

• Latinx applicants increased by 13%
• Black or African American applicants rose by 10%
• The share of domestic applicants identifying as Black or African American grew from 13.3% to 14%
• And lastly, white applicants’ share of the applicant pool continued its long-term decline, dropping from 48.2% to 45.7%

All’s to say, it is inevitable.

As a society, we are becoming increasingly diverse. As much as some people want to ignore it, this is a *fact*, not an opinion. The underrepresented populations are *growing* 📈📈 and it isn’t going to stop.

Also a fact, younger generations – like the Gen Z students talked about in the article – are becoming more globalized and more nuanced and more unique by the day. (Check out these supporting statistics about Gen Z)

So, if you’re a higher ed marketer or communicator looking to resonate with your diverse student population, you need to prioritize underrepresented students today. It’s no longer a nice-to-have or even a secondary focus, it needs to be your main priority.

So, how do you go about? Here are some brief tips:

✅ Focus on hyper-personalization
✅ Focus on deep, culturally nuanced storytelling
✅ Invest in in-depth culturally competent research
❌ Stop being afraid of being too specific
❌ Get rid of homogenous messaging
❌ Get rid of watered-down “diversity check-box” stories

These tips are only scratching the surface, but you still need to do these things if you have any hope at all of reaching and resonating the increasingly diverse student population.

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