The University of Colorado at Boulder enrolled a record number of students this year, spurring the growth of some minority programs.
Fall 1999 student enrollment at CU-Boulder totaled 26,318 students, up from 25,125 in fall 1998. The number of diverse students increased from 3,357 in fall 1998 to 3,414 in fall '99, accounting for 13.0 percent of the total student body.
Minority student enrollment in the College of Business and Administration, including new and continuing students, is up 15.9 percent over fall '98 enrollment, with 437 students enrolled this year as compared to 377 last year.
Enrollment in the Pre-Collegiate Development Program for high school and middle school students also is up, due to increased funding. When the recruitment period ends in late November, approximately 745 students are expected to participate, an increase of 238 students over last year.
Pre-Collegiate students reflect the variety of minorities enrolled in programs campus-wide. Of the 507 students currently enrolled in the program, 70 percent are identified as ethnic minorities; 80 percent are first-generation students; and 35 percent are single parents.
According to Ofelia Miramontes, interim associate vice chancellor of diversity and equity, continuous, steady growth is important in campus diversity efforts.
"Providing a diverse educational experience is essential to the mission of the university," Miramontes said.
"Our staff and faculty are actively working to enhance diversity on this campus and provide high-quality educational opportunities for diverse groups of students," she said. "We are glad to have these new students in our programs and we value the various perspectives that they bring to CU-Boulder. We are also very much committed to enhancing our efforts to increase diversity on the Boulder campus."
Other diversity programs also are experiencing increases in student enrollment, or increased retention of students.
The September issue of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Research Letter featured a study on minority engineering retention. CU-Boulder, with a minority graduation rate of 66.9 percent and a ranking of seventh out of 117 institutions, was listed in the study.
The Minority Arts and Sciences Program enrolled 17 students from the Summer Bridge program, up from 12 in 1998, in addition to increased enrollment in calculus, environmental biology and physics co-seminars, which enhance the scholars' learning experience and assist in achieving academic excellence. A total of 81 students are served by the program.
The Academic Access Institute enrolled 112 students in fall '99, compared to 82 in fall '98. AAI offers courses in writing and mathematics to a selected group of freshman students who have been provisionally admitted to CU-Boulder. The Institute also provides support services and writing courses for students who speak English as a second language, as well as support for sciences, study skills and academic advising.
Several other programs, including Disability Services and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center, have reported seeing more students attending outreach programs.
To fulfill its mission to a create a diverse community of advanced learning with the highest standards of scholarship, CU-Boulder is working to bring to campus more students, faculty and staff who come from underrepresented parts of communities, the state, nation and the world, or from nontraditional backgrounds and experiences.
²ÊÃñ±¦µä policies of the university are designed to ensure that admitted students are well prepared to handle demanding academic expectations.
For more information call the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä Office at (303) 492-6301 or visit the Web site at . Information on diversity and equity at CU-Boulder can also be found on the Web at .