Higher education administrators and officials in Oregon are grappling with an increasing problem: how not only to recruit students, especially those from underrepresented groups, but to keep them in college once they arrive.
To this end, the OUS held a symposium last week, titled “From Day 1 to Degree,” addressing the problem.
According to OUS research, Latinos make up 11.3 percent of Oregon’s population, yet they only account for 4.4 percent of the OUS bachelor’s degree recipients in the 2008-09 school year.
But it is not only ethnic minorities who are underrepresented. OUS data shows that Oregon’s rural population lags behind urban centers in degree attainment. Those from urban counties are 7 percent more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than their rural peers.
As far as retention, the University is a bright spot in the system. Eighty-six percent of freshmen who enroll at the University return for their sophomore year, the highest retention rate in the OUS.
But there are still problems.
Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity Charles Martinez said that while the University has the highest freshman and sophomore retention rates in the state, students, especially minority students, tend to struggle in their third and fourth years.
“Past the freshman and sophomore years, the data starts to erode,” Martinez said, “and it disproportionately affects students of color. Why is that?”
OUS spokesperson Di Saunders said a number of factors play into why students often drop out of college.
“Some of the top reasons students drop out is that they’re not prepared for the rigor,” Saunders said. “Also, affordability issues. They may not get enough grant funding.
Affordability often steps in as an issue, particularly in this environment where one or more parents may have been laid off.”
Martinez said speakers at the symposium suggested not only obvious means to improving retention, such as improving access to grants, but also changing campus cultures.
“One of the key themes was how important intentionality is,” Martinez said. “We can’t just expect these challenges to work themselves out. One of the key things is making students feel welcomed and engaged on campus, providing connections. Making it so they can see themselves in their careers and fields is a big part of that.”
Behind the scenes, students at the University have been working hard in this regard.
For example, the student group MEChA holds an annual conference called “Raza Unida,” or “People United,” for Latino high school students that includes workshops on how to apply for financial aid and apply to colleges.
ASUO Multicultural Advocate Diego Hernandez said there’s still much work to be done to get underrepresented students enrolled at the University and offered up an idea
of his own.
“The administration can institutionalize funding for the conference so we can spend less time fundraising and more time developing the conference,” he said.
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