A&M-Commerce Ranks in Hispanic Outlook’s Top 100

The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine has ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce No. 20 and No. 100 on two lists of the Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics in its May 5 issue.

In Hispanic Outlook's rankings for “College and University Enrollment – Graduate Degrees (Master's and Ph.D.'s),” A&M-Commerce placed 20th, with an enrollment of 1,115 Hispanic students in graduate degree programs at the university in 2012. Hispanic students accounted for 22 percent of A&M-Commerce's total graduate enrollment of 5,003 that year.

Among the top “Colleges and Universities Granting Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees” to Hispanics, A&M-Commerce tied with Texas Woman's University for 100th. A&M-Commerce granted degrees to 586 Hispanic students—20 percent of the university's 2,913 conferred degrees—in 2012.

A&M-Commerce President Dan R. Jones approved the university's strategic enrollment planning committee's recommendation to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in 2009. This spring A&M-Commerce became one of 277 colleges and universities in the nation to achieve “emerging” HSI status, with a full-time equivalent enrollment of 15 to 24 percent.

“We are very pleased that Texas A&M University-Commerce has achieved this milestone,” said Dr. Mary Hendrix, vice president for Student Access and Success at A&M-Commerce. “The majority of HSIs are located in urban areas. The fact that Texas A&M University-Commerce is receiving these recognitions is evidence of the university's commitment to focusing on both access and success of this student population.”

Hispanic Outlook, a national magazine that explores issues related to Hispanics in higher education, has been in circulation for 24 years. In addition to the Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics rankings that are based on data gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the May 5 issue includes articles on slowing increases in tuition costs and improving success rates for low-income students. The magazine is available online at hispanicoutlook.com.