The UA makes the 2008 Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine's top 100 colleges for Hispanics.
The University of Arizona is 22nd in the nation in bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics and is ranked 25th in Hispanic enrollment, according to The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education's Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics 2008 edition.
The University was also ranked 62nd in awarding master’s degrees and 20th in awarding doctoral degrees to Hispanics.
Each year, the magazine releases a list of the top 100 colleges and universities to award degrees to Hispanics. Several factors help determine the rankings, including the total number of degrees that each school awarded to Hispanics as well as the percentage of those that went to Hispanics.
In the 2007 editon of Hispanic Oulook's Top 100, the UA ranked 19th in bachelor's degrees, 53rd in master's degrees and 31st in doctoral degrees.
In determining the rankings, Hispanic Outlook used 2007 data collected from the National Center for Education Statistics. The enrollment rankings were based on 2006 data, which set the UA's enrollment at 36,805, with 5,320 of those being Hispanic.
The UA went from being ranked in 2007 as 39th nationally in Hispanic enrollment, with 8 percent of total enrollment, to its current ranking of 25th, with 14 percent.
The National Center for Education Statistics showed the UA awarding a total of 5,564 bachelor's degrees in the magazine's 2008 editiion, with 15 percent of those degrees awarded to Hispanics. Florida International University was ranked No. 1, having awarded 60 percent of its 5,324 bachelor's degrees to Hispanics.
Florida schools were the most dominant, with Florida International University ranking first in conferring bachelor’s and master’s degrees and Nova Southeastern heading the list for most doctorate degrees.
The UA also made the magazine's lists for awarding bachelor's degrees to Hispanics in three academic fields:
The UA has taken various steps to recruit and retain prospective first-generation college students from underserved communities.
"We work hard to identify elementary, middle and high schools that enroll students who will benefit from our services the most, and attempt to increase student and family social capital as it relates to college access," said Lori Tochihara, the director of Early Academic Outreach, a UA program that recruits and provides services to elementary to high school students from economic backgrounds in which students traditionally do not enroll in four-year colleges.
The UA provides various student success and multicultural programs that help UA students feel comfortable and provide them with resources to obtain a degree. The UA's Multicultural Affairs and Student Success programs serve all students at the UA but also offer tailored programs for the Hispanic, African-American, American Indian and Asian Pacific Islander populations.
Kendal Washington White, director of the Multicultural Affairs and Student Success programs said that the UA's multicultural programs have a strong impact on students' overall experience and work together to create an environment that bolsters the UA's efforts to recruit, retain, educate and graduate Arizona's minority students.
Rebecca Ruiz-McGill
Office of University Communications
520-621-1878