Academic officials focus on retention
With undergraduate enrollment on the rise every year, the number of minority students at USC’s Columbia campus is higher than it was two years ago. Data from the Office of Institutional Assessment and Compliance shows increases in all racial categories except of Native Americans and Pacific Islanders, but not all racial groups are growing at the same rate.
USC boasted its diversity last year when the class of 2015 brought record numbers of black and Hispanic freshmen. The class of 4,569 students, the largest in the school’s history, included a 42-percent increase in black freshmen and a 35-percent increase of Hispanic freshmen from 2009. These numbers are reflected in the total undergraduate population at USC, which grew by 10 percent. Students registered as African-American increased by 11 percent, non-residents by 13 percent and Hispanics by an outstanding 25 percent. In fact, Hispanic population more than tripled in the past decade from 221 to 811.
Even with increased enrollment, four-year graduation rates for most non-white groups are still below 50 percent, with the exception of Asian students, who have higher-than-average graduation rates 56 percent. Otherwise, based on data from the 2007 freshman cohort, 40 percent of black students, 48 percent of Hispanics and only 22 percent of Native Americans earned their bachelor’s in four years.
According to Vice Provost Helen Doerpinghaus, raising retention rates through social, financial and academic support is a priority for university officials. Internal efforts have included hiring a retention specialist, diversity programs through the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, such as EMPOWER, a Minority Assistance Peer Program, and the Gamecock Guarantee program, launched in 2008 to cover tuition and technology fees for students from low-income households. Doerpinghaus said the Gamecock Guarantee has been successful so far in that students involved have not only stayed in school, but maintained a higher GPA.
“We do pay attention to [minority retention]; we are making a real effort to equip all students to succeed,” Doerpinghaus said.
Doerpinghaus and other academic administration members have also been making visits to the deans of each college to discuss the state and needs of minority students. Proportions of different racial groups vary by school. 34 percent of students in the College of Social work are African-American — more than double the percentage in any of USC’s other colleges. Other schools with a notable minority presence are the South Carolina School of Pharmacy (highest percentage of Asian students) and the College of Engineering (second highest for Asians and Hispanics).
According to Admissions Director Scott Verzyl, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions plans on enrolling the same size freshman class next fall as it did in 2011. While the office is still in the process of admitting students, officials doubt the cap on enrollment will hinder the rising proportion of minorities, especially as more high school graduates of all racial groups choose to attend college rather than face a slimming workforce economy.
“At this point we’ll have to wait, but having seen an upward trend over the last 2 years, we hope to see that increase again this year,” said Tameka Banks, the minority coordinator of admissions.
While white students have maintained an over 75 percent majority at the flagship campus in the past few years, that statistic is not reflected in USC’s system as a whole. Minorities comprise between 21 and 43 percent of the student populations at Carolina’s Lancaster, Union, Salkehatchie and Sumter campuses. These campuses, according to Doerpinghaus, enable the university to reach out to more minorities seeking a higher education.
“Every campus has a different purpose,” Doerpinghaus said. “Some students are limited by socioeconomic issues — [they] may not have the scores for a research 1 university or leaving home may be expensive. We like to emphasize that we’re a system, and the system serves the state. We can’t be all things to all people as a campus, but we can as a system.”