Iowa State is home to more than 27,000 students who come for a college education. Included in the university’s population are students from diverse backgrounds. Recent and past studies have shown that students from particular diverse backgrounds are less likely to graduate from college than the majority.

Research links financial difficulties to dropout rates. A considerable amount of college dropouts come from low income families, first generation students and students who have limited English proficiency.

Nationally, 57 percent of students complete their bachelor’s degrees within six years, but the percentages are even lower for Blacks and Latinos. Nationally, only 49 percent of Latinos and 40 percent of Blacks graduate within six years.

“There are several reasons why students of color may drop out,” said Santos Nunez Galicia, assistant dean of students and director of Multicultural Student Affairs. “Sometimes it could be academic preparedness, and other times it could be from a lack of a support system. Students need to feel like they belong in order to be successful, socially and academically.” 

At Iowa State, the enrollments of ethnicities are varied, but there are six minority categories — Black, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander and American Indian.

When combining the graduation rate of these minorities to the white majority, there is a noticeable disparity. The disparity may be caused because of the fact that there are substantially less minorities than the white majority or because of other underlying issues like culture shock and a lack of a support system.

One of the ways a minority student could gain a support system within the ISU community and the world beyond is through a family of programs and centers designed specifically for them. There is the Multicultural Center whose primary mission is to develop a sense of community between students, staff and faculty of color on the ISU campus. The center provides computers, study rooms and a kitchenette. There is also the Black Cultural Center that also provides study rooms and a kitchenette. Students can also find support within multicultural clubs and social and cultural activities on campus.

“Support plays a big role. If a student of color has at least one person of support, then they can be retained,” said Japannah Kellogg, program director of student support services.

“That’s where we try to improve retention rates among minorities. We try to connect students with organizations,” said Santos.

The Multicultural Student Affairs office works to improve the retention of multicultural students with an emphasis on academic success and student leadership development. Another program is the Student Support Services Program), which is program through TRiO that helps students overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education.

Both programs provide free tutoring, career planning and financial aid advising. They are an example of instrumental programs at Iowa State that are closing the disparity gap one student at a time.