For the University of Maryland, adapting to a growing Hispanic population is already a challenge.
The six-year graduation rate among Hispanic students is lagging behind those of white and Asian students by about 15 percent, university President Dan Mote said in his State of the Campus address this year.
But now, with the number of Hispanic students graduating from Maryland high schools expected to triple by 2014, according to statistics commissioned by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Board of Regents, the effort to close the achievement gap has taken on new urgency.
“We use this data to make the case that there needs to be a lot of thought,” said Brian Prescott, a research associate with Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, which provided the regents with data on the growth of the Hispanic population. “Those [minority] students are likely to have different needs and expectations from college than the students that are enrolled.”
Mote mentioned minority graduation rates as one of his few disappointments in his State of the Campus address this year. Black students also face sluggish graduation rates, Mote said, despite the university’s public relations campaign that touted the university’s success in graduating more black students than many other public institutions.
While university officials can’t give any specifics yet on what its plans are for improving minority graduation rates, Undergraduate Studies Associate Dean Kathy McAdams said addressing the challenges posed by the growing minority population on the campus will be a top priority in the school’s 10-year strategic plan.
The plan is being formulated by a committee this year, which will present recommendations next semester. Mote has said he hopes the plan will chart the university’s path to closing gaps such as minority graduation rates, among other challenges.
