For this study we used institutional web sites to examine the mission statements of 80 higher education institutions for messages about diversity. Of the 80 institutions, 59 (75%) referenced diversity in their mission statements; but only 19% defined diversity in racial or ethnic terms. In addition to mission statements, 52 (or 65%) of the 80 institutions had a separate diversity statement; but only 18 of these were an official institutional statement. These treatments of diversity are interesting in light of the changing demographics of the incoming college student population and the recognized need for greater cultural development or awareness on campuses. If mission and diversity statements reflect the priorities of the institution, 35% of the institutions in the sample said nothing about diversity. Key words Higher education institutions . Mission statements . DiversityAs the diversity of the United States population continues to increase, colleges and universities are also seeing a more diverse student population arrive at their doors (Smith 2006). The proportion of minorities, such as Blacks and Hispanics, attending college has grown from 1998 to 2008 by 127% for Blacks and 124% for Hispanics at private four-year colleges while at public two-year colleges the increase was 51% for Blacks and 68% for Hispanics (The Innov High Educ (2012) 37:125-139

This research investigated the availability of 15 data and/or services of interest to minority students through an analysis of the websites of 40 higher education institutions; 10 each from doctoral/research, master's, baccalaureate, and community colleges drawn from 40 different states. This descriptive study answered 3 research questions: (a) How available is information or services of interest to prospective African American and Hispanic students on higher education websites? (b) When information or services are available, how far are they from the home page? (c) How consistent is the presentation of minorities on the website with the actual proportion of minority students at institutions? Findings indicate that 51% of the information or services were missing and statistically significant differences were found in missing information by the institution's Carnegie classification. However, 11 of 15 services or information investigated were relatively easy to locate. An analysis of minority students in rotating photos on the home page revealed that 78% of institutions used photos that overrepresented the percentage of minorities at the institution.

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