Sylvester Gaskin, senior in aerospace engineering from Ft. Mead, Maryland, barely opened his ISU acceptance letter before scholarships began pouring in.

“I had been accepted to Iowa State for less than a week, and I was receiving scholarship offers,” said Gaskin, a recipient of the George Washington Carver scholarship for minority students. Experiences such as Gaskin’s illustrate Iowa State’s increased focus on diversity.

According to the Iowa College Student Aid Commission’s annual report, the diversity of Iowa’s colleges and universities has surpassed that of the state’s population as a whole.

The report stated an average of 7.4 percent of students enrolled in Iowa’s colleges are minorities, while only seven percent of Iowa’s 2.9 million residents are racial or ethnic minorities.

Iowa State’s minority enrollment was 7.3 percent for the 2002—03 academic year and has been steadily increasing over the past few years, according to the report.

In 2002, 371 new minority freshmen enrolled at Iowa State — the third largest number in school history, said Phil Caffrey, associate director of admissions.

Much of the growth can be attributed to recruitment initiatives including programs and scholarships exclusively for minority students, Caffrey said.

Iowa State offers the Early Success Program, which aids first-year minority students in the transition to college. Admissions staff members also conduct face-to-face interviews with students and their parents, Caffrey said.

Gaskin had the chance to attend several major East Coast schools, including the University of Maryland, but chose Iowa State because of the effort the school made to make it easier for him to attend.

The support provided for enrolled students is also helpful, Gaskin said.

“There was a great support network through the Minority Student Affairs office,” Gaskin said. “Whenever I needed assistance, there was always someone there.”

However, Iowa State faces its share of challenges in minority recruitment, Caffrey said.

“Iowa has a fairly homogenous population, which forces us to recruit out-of-state students,” Caffrey said. “That makes non-resident tuition a factor, and students have to pay $20,000 a year to attend Iowa State.”

Despite the challenges, officials value diversity on campus and are committed to minority student recruitment, Caffrey said.

In a recent statement, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said, “Iowa State University believes a diverse campus enriches the educational experience and helps prepare students for the world in which they will live and work.”

Even though one milestone has been reached, the university is already at work on reaching the next one, Caffrey said. The Board of Regents has set a new target of 8.5 percent minority enrollment for Iowa’s three public universities, Caffrey said.

The University of Iowa’s minority enrollment was 8.2 percent, according to the university’s fall 2002 Regent’s Report, www.uiowa.edu/registrar/profile/20023sui1.pdf. The University of Northern Iowa’s was 5.2 percent in fall 2002, according to the university Web site, www.uni.edu/regist/statistics/fall2002/table06.pdf.