This study provides a comprehensive profile of all types of "minority-serving institutions" (MSIs), in the United States and to examine the characteristics of minority students who attend these institutions. The report adds to earlier research focusing on single types of MSIs--primarily Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), or Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). In contrast to earlier research, this study examines all types of MSIs side by side and includes private for-profit institutions, which are typically excluded from studies on MSIs. This report consists of three sections, beginning with an overview of MSIs, discussing the major trends between 1984 and 2004 in the participation of minority students in U.S. higher education and the extent to which MSIs enroll minority students. This overview is followed by a description of how MSIs differed from other institutions in terms of their major institutional characteristics (e.g., sector, admissions selectivity, and population size of low-income students) in 2004. The report ends with an analysis of the demographic and enrollment characteristics of minority students attending MSIs and how they differ from those attending non-MSIs and across various types of MSIs. Findings from this report are descriptive in nature; they do not imply causality or identify reasons for the trends or differences observed. (44 tables and 12 figures. Appended are: (1) Glossary; (2) Technical Notes and Methodology; and (3) Lost of Degree-Granting Title IV Institutions Included in This Study That were Minority-Serving: Fall 2004.)