The American Diversity Survey is conducted annually by the global research and consulting firm Universum Communications. The 2005 Edition features the responses from 12,376 minority students at 107 of the top universities in the United States. 10,260 of the respondents were undergraduates; 2.116 were MBA students. The extensive survey covers topics such as compensation, goals, decision drivers for joining a firm, preferred information about potential employers, image influences and other aspects of the transition from school to work.

In addition, students identify up to five companies as their "ideal employers" – companies they would most like to work for. No company pays to be on the list. The companies are selected based on student selections in previous years. Students also have the option to write in company names if they are not on the list. The ideal employer ranking is based on the percentage of students who chose them as ideal.

The vast majority of the 2005 surveys were distributed via e-mail. Only a fraction of the responses was collected using paper questionnaires.

Both open- and closed-ended questions were used, with the majority of the questions being closed-ended. Each question had an extensive list of alternatives and an "other" that allowed students to write in their preferred response if it was not on the list.