KU ranks 17th for number of doctorates awarded to Hispanics

Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine has named KU 17th in the nation for the number of doctoral degrees awarded to Hispanic students.
 
According to the rankings, KU awarded 17, or 7 percent, of the 239 doctorates granted in 2003-04 to Hispanics.  KU ranked higher than all other Big 12 universities except for the much larger University of Texas at Austin, which ranked fifth with 31 graduates.
 
Earlier this year, Hispanic Outlook magazine selected KU for its 2004 Publisher’s Picks list of colleges and universities that have a solid record of “recruiting, enabling and graduating Hispanic students.” The magazine also named the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications to its list of the top 25 university programs granting the most bachelor’s degrees in journalism and mass communications to Hispanic students.

This spring U.S. News and World Report named the KU School of Law to its list of “most diverse” law schools, placing it in the top 15 for Hispanic enrollment.
 
Efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented students at KU have proven successful at KU with minority first-time freshmen increasing nearly 10 percent and overall minority enrollment rising more than 4 percent in 2004. Among freshman minority students, Hispanic enrollment increased 20 percent.
 
KU boasts eight Multicultural Scholars Programs on its Lawrence campus. The programs, recognized among the nation’s most successful retention programs for students of color, began 11 years ago in the School of Business and have expanded to architecture and urban design; journalism; education; pharmacy; applied behavioral science; African and African-American studies; and languages and humanities.

KU has also begun to explore recruitment programs presented in Spanish including "Mi Familia, Mi Futuro: Dia Del Colegio—College Day: My Family, My Future" with pilot programs in Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal. The programs present information about academic preparation, leadership development and college adjustment for Spanish-speaking prospective students.  
 
KU’s Hawk Link program, designed to recruit and retain students of color, also has been named one of the most successful programs of its kind by one of the nation’s leading higher-education consulting firms.

"These community-based programs address the very foundation of efforts to provide our Latino students with the tools to succeed at any level in their college experience," said Robert N. Page Jr., director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.  "Programs like Hawk Link and other academic support services make KU a premier institution for all of our students."