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A recent study conducted by a sociology professor at Augsburg College in Minnesota found that colleges and universities across the country are misrepresenting campus diversity by printing brochures and promotional literature that portray greater campus diversity than actually exists. Professor Timothy Pippert and sociology student Edward Matchett collaborated on the study based on random sampling of material from 371 colleges and universities across the country. The study analyzed the accuracy of racial representation by comparing each school’s population percentages with portrayed percentages, finding that many schools disproportionately displayed students of color in promotional literature. This study is not the first to find such activity among campus administrators: in 2000 the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the University of Idaho admitted that they had doctored promotional photographs to make their campuses look diverse.

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