Abstract: “The main purpose of this study was to examine trends of treating within-country higher education students‘ socio-cultural differences in the Ethiopian education systems retrospectively and find evidence based explanation with regard to the level of effectiveness of the current multicultural approach for managing student diversity. The study used qualitative data collected from ranges of policystrategy documents and documented higher education student intergroup scenarios in the country today. The findings showed that during the Imperial regime assimilation was practiced where as during the Dergue era integration strategy was employed to bring about social cohesion in the institutions. These approaches did not bring about the envisaged peace in the country that the present EPRDF government which had seized government power and which had emerged from the student struggle itself installed a multicultural policy. Nevertheless, ethnic, linguistic and religious based mistrust and hostiliti”

Keywords: retrospective, analysis, addressing, higher education, students’ socio-cultural