A recent study indicated USC was the most ethnically diverse private university in the U.S. Next was Columbia. I recently read the university is the most economically diverse private research university. It was third last year in the number of National Merit Scholars attending.
Data from the National Merit Corporation....National Merit Scholars chose the following universities to enroll: The top four are listed here.
For 2010....
Univ. of Chicago------268
Harvard University------261
Univ. of Southern California------250
Northwestern University------227
The class that entered in 2010 had representation from 1,397 high schools/prep schools around the world and well over 100 countries. There are 80 religious groups recognized on campus.
Last year 53% of the freshmen came from California. The next states were: Texas, Illiniois, New York, Washington and Massachusetts.