By the numbers, minority student enrollment is down slightly at MSU, but according to the Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance & Monitoring, the university's minority retention rate is above the national average.
Each year, MSU publishes a report on the progress of initiatives that support diversity.
Student admissions data for the 2003-04 academic year shows that student admissions for minorities and women were down slightly, but MSU officials said the rates have been relatively stable throughout the years.
The total minority freshman enrollment for fall 2004 shows slight increases in black and Native American freshman and slight decreases in Chicano/Latino and Asian freshmen.
Office Director Paulette Granberry Russell said although the six-year graduation rates for minority students at MSU exceeds the national average, a discrepancy still exists.
The six-year graduation rate for all students is 70.8 percent, but the rate for minority students is at 55.5 percent.
"There has been little change to reduce the (graduation) gap between white students and students of color," Granberry Russell said at the MSU Board of Trustees meeting Friday.
But Granberry Russell said there has been a range of activities to recruit minorities.
She pointed to the success of the College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, and High School Equivalency Program, or HEP. Both programs help attract and retain students of migrant families, Granberry Russell said.
MSU CAMP Director Luis Garcia said he would not argue with the claim that there was still much to do to recruit and retain minority students.
"There is definitely room to grow," Garcia said. "While the numbers (of migrant students enrolling at MSU) have been stable, they are not increasing."
Rosemary Max, assistant director of the Office for International Students and Scholars, said the office works to welcome international students.
"International applications to the graduate schools have been declining, but overall the numbers of students attending have been going up," Max said. "Every year, MSU has gained close to 100 international undergraduates."
