CSU Welcomes Increase in Number of Minority Freshman Undergraduates

This fall semester, Colorado State University, CSU, saw the number of minority freshman undergraduates enrolled at the university increase from 667 to 740 from the previous semester, accounting for 16.5 percent of the entire freshman population, which is 3732.

With the entire minority student population at 14.5 percent of the total student population, Robin Brown, vice president for enrollment and access, said that CSU had increased its efforts over the years to reach out to students from diverse backgrounds in high schools.

“We are doing a much better job at outreach and letting families and students know that CSU is a great option for them and that we have financial aid and scholarships to help them afford the education here,” she said.

One of such efforts by CSU to create a more diverse campus is the Alliance Partnership Program initiated by the university in 2008.

“As part of the Alliance Partnership Program, we partner with 10 high schools around the state that are primarily in communities characterized by families with low income,” she said. “A lot of these students are first generation; a lot of these students are of ethnic and racial diversity.

Under the Alliance Partnership Program, students get an automatic $2,500 scholarship if admitted to CSU, with full tuition paid for in grants for Pell grant recipients. The Pell grant is a federal education grant targeted toward select students from low income families.

Junior business administration student, Perez Ansah-Mensah, 20, was a part of the Alliance Partnership Program from Hinkley High School in 2008.

“I was interested in attending the University of Denver and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; however, the Alliance Partnership Program played an important role in me choosing CSU,” said Ansah-Mensah. “The partnership helped me with some of my tuition, and it’s an annual aid I get from CSU.”

Brown was optimistic that the number of minority students would continue to increase in the coming semesters.

“We are very encouraged for next fall because we are up 29 percent in applications from diverse students for this next fall class,” Brown said. “So we are hoping we will reach 17 percent of our incoming freshman class identifying as students from diverse backgrounds.”