Minority students at the Regent Universities have lower retention and graduation rates than non-minority students, according to a report from the Iowa Board of Regents’ Education and Student Affairs Committee given during the board’s meeting Wednesday at the Scheman Building.

According to the report, the average one-year retention rate for minority students was approximately 4 percent lower than non-minority rates, and the six-year graduation rate for minority students was 16 percent lower than graduation figures for non-minorities.

West Des Moines Regent Teresa Wahlert said the board must work to reverse the trend.

“I’m deeply disturbed by the racial issues,” Wahlert said. “We need to challenge the universities to do something different.”

The board didn’t take any actions regarding the retention and graduation rates, but members suggested a second report devoted entirely to the matter.

“I think we need to set a timetable for a follow-up report on this,” said Regents President Michael Gartner.

The report offered no reasoning as to why the gap between minority and non-minority students exists.

The retention report also found that Iowa State’s six-year graduation rates are at an all-time high of 68 percent, eight points higher than the 2005 national average for Division I universities.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy credited Iowa State’s faculty with the high graduation numbers.

“A lot of the programs here contribute to the numbers, but there’s also a culture within the faculty and staff,” Geoffroy said. “They work hard to see students graduate.”

Regarding minority retention, he said no significant difference exists between the retention rates between minority and non-minority students at Iowa State.

“The first-year retention rates are nearly the same,” he said. “For minority students, something happens between the end of the first year and graduation. We don’t know what that is, but it’s a key to retention.”

He said the university has created a retention task force to explore the issue and implement possible solutions such as an increased number of learning communities for first-year students.