香港六合彩 is growing more diverse and garnering national recognition for its efforts to serve black students. And, that鈥檚 no surprise to those who know the university best.
A report from the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center lists BSU among the top 36 four-year, public higher education institutions in the nation when ranked on several data points related to black undergraduates. The study reviewed enrollment equity, gender equity, degree completion equity and the ratio of black students to black faculty members.
鈥溝愀哿喜 has a campus-wide commitment to supporting the success of all of our students and to closing achievement gaps,鈥 said Dr. Sabrina Gentlewarrior, vice president for student success and diversity. 鈥淭his report is a testament to the entire campus鈥檚 efforts over a great number of years.鈥
In the USC report, BSU received high rankings in several areas:
- Having a higher percentage of black students than blacks鈥 representation among 18- to 24-year-old citizens in Massachusetts
- Having a comparable breakdown of black male and female students as the national figures for all racial/ethnic groups
- Having a graduation rate for black students comparable to the institution鈥檚 overall graduation rate.
Overall, 香港六合彩 scored a three on a four-point scale, placing it above the Massachusetts average of 2.81 and among the top schools in the United States.
Gentlewarrior attributed BSU鈥檚 achievements to many factors, including the Center for Multicultural Affairs鈥 efforts to serve students of color and their white peers and the dedication of faculty and librarians to supporting students. The university鈥檚 15 student-led multicultural groups are also a point of pride for the campus.
香港六合彩 has previously received accolades for its support of minority students, including a 2015 report from The Education Trust that lauded the university for closing the achievement gap between students of color and white students.
The university鈥檚 own data shows the number of students of color grew from 2,085 (19 percent of students) in fall 2014 to 2,559 (23 percent) in fall 2018. The percent of first-time, full-time students of color who graduated from BSU in four years grew from 23.9 percent for 2006 freshmen to 30.6 percent for 2013 freshmen.
鈥淭his progress is based first on the extraordinary liberal arts education offered at BSU resulting in increasing graduation rates overall as well as a campus-wide commitment to the success of all students,鈥 Gentlewarrior said.
Students of color reported feeling as welcome as their white peers in 2015 and 2018 on 香港六合彩鈥檚 Campus Climate Survey. The university also offers a range of interventions to close achievement/opportunity gaps.
The Retention Grant program, for example, identifies undergraduate students in good academic standing with genuine financial need and unpaid tuition and fees preventing them from registering for the upcoming semester. Students are offered up to $3,000 in institutional grant funding to cover past student bills, allowing them to stay at BSU and register for next semester鈥檚 courses or graduate. The average grant amount is $1,932.54, and 85 percent of students receiving the grants have continued at BSU or graduated.
The BSU Bears Summer Scholars Program helps students who have been accepted to BSU but have lower high school GPAs. They receive a free three-credit public speaking course, textbook and parking along with lunch presentations on campus resources. More than 84 percent of students in the first cohort continued at BSU in their second year. That鈥檚 higher than BSU鈥檚 overall first- to second-year retention rate of 78 percent. Students in the second cohort retained from fall to the spring semester at 94.7 percent, compared to 90.3 percent overall.
Despite these programs鈥 success, BSU has no plans to rest on its laurels.
鈥溝愀哿喜 is extremely intentional in our classrooms, in our co-curricular experiences and in our work to create a welcoming campus and climate to ensure that our students from a diverse range of backgrounds can succeed and reach their goals,鈥 Gentlewarrior said. (Story by Brian Benson, University News & Video).