Hispanic Graduation Rates at Local Colleges

An interesting article I found on the San Gabriel Valley Tribune online edition. (www.sgvtribune.com)

Report: Area colleges graduating higher percentage of Hispanic students
By Tracy Garcia, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/28/2010 07:02:50 AM

A new report says far too many four-year colleges and universities are graduating fewer than half their Hispanic students - but locally, Whittier College, Biola University and the University of La Verne are proving to be the exceptions. A recent survey of national college graduation data by the American Enterprise Institute showed 51 percent of Hispanic students who start college complete a bachelor's degree in six years - compared to 59 percent of white students.
The disparity holds true no matter the ability of the students or the reputation of the schools, AEI researchers said. Even many federally designated "Hispanic-serving" institutions are graduating less than 50 percent of their Hispanic students, the report said.
"These data show quite clearly that colleges and universities cannot place all of the blame on students for failing to graduate," said AEI researcher Andrew P. Kelly.
"Colleges struggling to graduate their Hispanic students should learn from the successes of leaders like Whittier College, which has successfully closed the gap between its Hispanic and white students," Kelly said.

The report shows Whittier College's six-year graduation rate is 63 percent for Hispanics and 58 percent for white students.
"Almost a third of our students are Latino, so I think they find a home when they arrive here," Whittier College President Sharon Herzberger said.
"But the things that are working for us to promote success among Latinos are the same efforts we make to promote success with African- American and white students as well," Herzberger said. "It's not a specific effort aimed at just Latinos."
That includes having a diverse student body, a strong financial aid program that enables students to continue their education and the school's Living and Learning communities, which pair groups of students taking the same courses.
As such, Herzberger said, students "get the opportunity to know the faculty; they have the support provided by being a member of a small class; and they get to know each other and upper-class students as well."
Hispanic students at the University of La Verne graduate at rate of 56 percent - two percent higher than the rate for white students. At Biola University in La Mirada, the AEI report showed an even better six- year graduation rate: 71 percent among Hispanics compared to 69 percent for white students. "I think that can be attributed to the relationships and quality of mentoring with the faculty, staff and students," said Carrie Stockton, director of academic advising and student retention. Last spring, the private Christian university launched a new Retention Council to be more strategic in getting all students to graduation, Stockton said. "Students make a connection here, and they want to stay and graduate," she said. "Biola provides the opportunity for students to have a Christ-centered way of thinking about spiritual issues, and that's meeting a need for students."
For the AEI study, researchers said they used data from the U.S. Department of Education to examine graduation rates. The schools were grouped by how selective they are in admitting students, from noncompetitive to most-competitive. The crucial factor to good Hispanic graduation rates, the study's authors argued, is having an institution-wide commitment to graduating all students. And with the rapid growth in the Hispanic population, it's particularly important to make sure all students are succeeding in their educational goals, experts say.
"Educating all students well and getting them across the finish line is the biggest challenge facing higher education today," said Hilary Pennington, director of Education, Postsecondary Success and Special Initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided the grant for the AEI study. "These are students who are going to replace the baby boomers," Pennington said, "and who we will rely on to drive our economy over the next several decades."

tracy.garcia@sgvn.com
562-698-0955, ext. 3051