African American graduates prepare for spring commencement (Photo/Patrick Kelley)

CU-Boulder is ranked once again in two annual magazine rankings for underrepresented students—Diverse Issues in Higher Education's Top 100 Undergraduate Producers and Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education's Top 100 Colleges Awarding Degrees to Hispanics. The magazines conducted rankings for the number of degrees awarded nationally in 2004-2005.

The results of the Diverse Issues in Higher Education study were published in the June 15 edition and CU-Boulder appeared in several categories.

The university's overall ranking for awarding degrees to American Indian students was 59th. Asian American baccalaureates ranked 64th and Hispanic baccalaureates ranked 76th. No other Colorado institution was ranked in the latter two categories. The Boulder campus did not rank for awarding bachelor's degrees to African American students.

"CU-Boulder's high graduation rates for students of color result in rankings in the top 100 institutions for the award of baccalaureate degrees to students of color," said Christie Yoshinaga-Itano, vice provost for diversity and equity. "We continue to strive to improve our recruitment, retention and graduation rates for all students, especially for our students from diverse populations. There is a significant increase in the student commitment to enroll for this coming academic year in all of our under-represented ethnic minority groups. With continued improvement, we can strive to rank in the top 50 in some of the categories.

"We are highly committed to the recruitment and retention of our African-American students," she emphasized. "It is our hope that through increased community involvement and with the support of our African American students, alumni and community members that significant gains in African American student enrollment will be made in the future."

In the category on area, ethnic, cultural and gender studies, CU-Boulder ranked 28th for total minority bachelor's degrees awarded, the only institution listed for the state of Colorado. The ranking for Hispanic baccalaureates in this area was 21st and the Asian American baccalaureate ranking was 32nd.

Engineering garnered two spots, a sixth place ranking for awarding American Indian baccalaureates and a 48th place standing for awarding baccalaureates to Hispanic students.

Psychology was also ranked twice: 28th place for awarding American Indian baccalaureates and 34th for awarding degrees to Asian American students.

Single rankings for CU-Boulder in other disciplines included:

• Mathematics and statistics – Hispanic baccalaureates, 40th
• English - Asian American baccalaureates, 45th
• Biological and biomedical sciences - Hispanic baccalaureates, 50th

Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education released its rankings last month. CU-Boulder was ranked 76th for awarding bachelor's degrees and 68th in the award of doctoral degrees. The Boulder campus was not ranked in the master's degree category.

In addition to CU-Boulder, several other Colorado universities annually earn spots in the magazines' rankings—the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines, among others—firmly placing Colorado in the national arena for graduating students from minority populations.

States among the top 100 institutions enrolling the most full-time Hispanic students now include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Nevada and Missouri. Only 11 states were represented in all three degree categories—bachelor's, master's and doctoral—Florida, Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri, Washington and Colorado.

For more information on these rankings, visit the Diverse Issues and Hispanic Outlook web sites.