At No. 34, FAU made Diverse: Issues in Higher Education’s list of the nation’s top 100 colleges and universities to present degrees to minority students this year.

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education is a bi-weekly magazine published to inform academic, business and public leaders about trends taking place in schools across the United States. The “Top 100 Minority Degree Producers” is a ranking of minority degrees earned in 100 schools around the nation using data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

“I definitely think FAU makes higher education accessible to minorities,” said Cedric Brazle, president of the Black Student Union. “That’s the reason I’m even here.”

The effort to make FAU a diverse community has continued throughout the decades – even as far back as the ‘80s during Dr. Helen Popovich’s time as the school president.

The school’s website states, “Dr. Popovich placed special emphasis on adding more minorities to the university’s faculty, staff and student body, and she succeeded in pushing those numbers upward. During her six years in office, the enrollment of African-American and Hispanic students increased, and the faculty and administration became more diverse.”

Now, FAU is made up of 49 percent minority students. Between fall 2012 and fall 2013, FAU’s reports show a trend in increasing minority numbers. More specifically, there was a decrease in white enrollment and increases in Hispanics and Asians among others. The rate of African-American enrollment stayed the same.

The school is currently ranked 34th for giving out undergraduate degrees and 93rd for graduate degrees for total minority students, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and those with two or more races.