UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Among thousands of higher education institutions nationwide, Penn State rates among the top 100 in African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American undergraduate degree producers, according to “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.”
The success follows decades of increasing undergraduate minority enrollments at Penn State. In 2010 the University conferred bachelor's degrees to 1,523 minority students, 13 percent of bachelor's degree-seeking students at all Penn State campuses. This total places the University at No. 45 nationally for total minority bachelor’s degrees awarded.
“These are record-breaking numbers for us,” Terrell Jones, Penn State vice provost of Educational Equity, said. “This is another sign that we are making tremendous progress in not just enrollment but graduation rates.”
Among all undergraduate disciplines, Penn State is 33rd nationally with 607 Asian American undergraduates, 77th with 403 African American undergraduates and 74th with 379 Hispanic undergraduates in 2010. In Pennsylvania, only Temple, with 1,485 graduates, had more total minority undergraduates than Penn State’s 1,228.
The full list of Penn State’s ratings divided by disciplines can be found at http://diverseeducation.com/top100/BachelorsDegreeProducers2011.php.