Helping Latinos Succeed

Changing U.S. demographics indicate the need for college-educated citizens of Hispanic descent, especially since several national studies show that Hispanics will represent one out of every two new workers entering the American labor force by 2025.

In an effort to better understand its Latino students, San Diego State’s Division of Student Affairs analyzed high-risk, Latino first-time freshmen from three different entry points: 2005, 2006 and 2007. “High risk” includes students who need remediation (non-college ready) and first-generation college students.

This weekend, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Eric Rivera and, Reynaldo Monzon, director of Student Testing, Research and Assessment, will present their results, “Ensuring Latino College Student Success: A Data Driven Approach,” at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities international conference in San Antonio, Tex.

Eye-opening data

Rivera and Monzon sought to learn what decreased the likelihood of academic probation and increased the likelihood of retention, academic performance and a four-to-six year graduation rates.

The data proved eye opening.

Each of the three cohorts of high-risk Latino students who lived on campus did as well or better than other, non-Latino students living on campus. Meanwhile, high-risk Latino students commuting to campus fared substantially lower than their on-campus peers in their academic pursuits.

Accounting for all other variables, the strongest factor between these students was on-campus living. Something was happening in the residence halls to make a considerable difference in students’ academic success rates. This discovery led to some creative approaches on campus.

Study spurs creative approaches

One outcome included adding an outreach function in Residential Education to link to targeted, local prospective students, informing them and their families about opportunities for living on campus.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is working with the high school districts and families on their perception of local students living on campus,” Rivera said.

“Our outreach coordinator educates them on the value and benefits of living in a residence hall and how it is financially feasible.”

Rivera said the outreach is starting to show success.

“Understanding the factors that lead to academic success helps us to continue to develop and refine programs for both residential students and commuter students alike, ensuring that all students have the support to thrive academically.”

Boosting performance of commuter students

The study also resulted in a second change — the birth of Casa Azteca, a new program for commuter students living in the San Ysidro area.

In collaboration with Casa Familiar, a local community resource center, Casa Azteca provides commuters with many of the services provided to students living in residence halls. Students enjoy the benefits of being part of this smaller community within the larger university setting. Now in its third semester, Casa Azteca shows great promise and will be fully assessed as it progresses.

The study also shows that even those commuter students who are college ready — those who would not be considered “high-risk” — are still out-performed by non-college ready students living on campus. Commuter students face many "pull" factors that don't affect student living in residence halls.

For instance, many still socialize with friends who are not attending college, are affected by additional family obligations, work off-campus or are subject to other challenges that interfere with their academic focus.

The university recognizes the need to provide more opportunities to support all commuter students in a meaningful way. The early promise of Casa Azteca has encouraged the Division of Student Affairs to explore partnerships with other local community resources to better serve SDSU's commuter population.