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February 17, 2011
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Census: Metro State’s Latino student population increases 20 percent
The Latino student population is rising at Metropolitan State College of Denver, according to the latest census report from the College’s Office of Institutional Research.
As of the Feb. 2, 2011 census date, 23,453 undergraduate students were enrolled at Metro State, continuing a trend of enrollment increases that has held for 19 of the 20 fall and spring semesters since the 2000-2001 year.
While the increase in overall enrollment was slight—0.8 percent, or 180 students more than last spring—what was notable was the significant increase in enrollment of students of color, up 20.2 percent from last year, from 5,744 to 6,904 students. Students of color now represent 29.4 percent of undergraduate enrollment.
Of the 1,160 increase in students of color, 868 were Latino, a 28.8 percent increase from the number enrolled last spring. The total number of Latino students enrolled now stands at 3,879, or 16.5 percent of the student body. This is up from the fall 2010 Latino enrollment of 3,824, or 16.0 percent of the total.
“It’s important to remember the huge increases in Latinos we experienced last fall and notice how that trend has continued for this spring,” says Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services Judi Diaz Bonacquisti. “While we may have 868 more Latinos than we had in spring 2010, we have 55 more Latinos than just last fall. When you consider we had many students graduate in December and that overall we have 505 fewer total students this spring than fall 2010, our progress is quite remarkable.
“In fact,” Diaz Bonacquisti says, “our new Hispanic student enrollment was 25 percent of this spring’s entering class. This reinforces the success of our many outreach and student success initiatives, as well as a better way for students to self-identify their race and ethnicity.”
The composition of students’ class years has shifted as well. The number of seniors increased by 5.4 percent, juniors by 3.3 percent, and sophomores by 1.1 percent. The number of freshmen decreased by 5.1 percent.
The number of graduate students now stands at 60, up from 50 in the fall. This is the first spring that Metro State has offered graduate programs.
View the complete census profile on the Office of Institutional Research website.
