The ability for all students, undergraduate, graduate, and professional, to have equitable opportunities to attend K-State; and addressing the access gap for students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations.
Awareness
K-State is a top recruiter of students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations in the state of Kansas. Nationally, K-State is recognized as among the best universities in serving LGBTQ+ students. K-State is also a designated First-gen Forward Institution, with a leadership and advisory role for facilitating the advancement of first-generation students at participating schools in the Midwest. K-State also offers in-state tuition to members of Indigenous tribe members of Kansas tribes. At the regional level, our Black Student Union is consistently regarded as the best in the Big 12. The Hispanic student population is our largest and fastest-growing demographic throughout the university and nearly one-third of our undergraduate students are from low socio-economic backgrounds. Additionally, approximately 20% of all K-State students are enrolled through K-State Online. Nearly 6% of our student body is international, representing more than 100 countries. According to the most recent Survey of Earned Doctorates, K-State had a higher percentage of Black and African American research doctoral recipients than peer institutions. Based on the 2019 enrollment data, graduate students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations represent approximately 14% of master’s students and 41% of doctoral students.
Although K-State is a leader in enrolling students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations in Kansas, there are serious concerns for our university. Enrollment of students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations, for example, is remarkably close to one-half of the total availability of students in the 18-24 age group in the state. The enrollment of each racial/ethnic population would need to at least be doubled to mirror the state demographics of the same. According to the National Center for Education Studies, the percentage of historically underrepresented and underserved students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade public schools is projected to increase. Additionally, a sizable portion of students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations are having difficulties financing the costs of higher education. These financial difficulties are expounded exponentially as student identities intersect (i.e., racial identity, first generation, Pell-eligible). In comparison to our KBOR peer institutions, students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations are also underrepresented and underserved at the graduate level. Since significant career opportunities exist for graduates from historically underrepresented and underserved populations with advanced degrees in academia, government and industry, there are opportunities for K-State to make a dedicated effort to improve enrollment of students from historically underrepresented and underserved backgrounds.
Alignment
K-State is a land-grant university established in 1863 and charged with providing a practical education that is relevant to daily lives of the citizens of the state of Kansas. In alignment with our land-grant mission, K-State’s goal for the next accreditation cycle through the Higher Learning Commission is to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of first-generation students. The K-State 2025 Visionary Plan calls for expanding our capacity to recruit a talented, diverse undergraduate and graduate student body. The Strategic Enrollment Management Plan emphasizes that recruitment and retention are everyone’s responsibility.
Aim 1A
Support prospective students by leveraging their cultural capital to assist, with special attention to historically underrepresented and underserved populations, in identifying career paths and academic disciplines compatible with their aspirations, strengths and readiness.
1a.1 Expand outreach to students from historically underrepresented, underserved and international backgrounds to attend K-State and pursue undergraduate, graduate and professional programs.
1a.2 Ensure the implementation of culturally responsive recruitment and outreach initiatives to create a more diverse and mutually inclusive undergraduate and graduate student body (Action Plan Step 3: For a More Inclusive K-State).
1a.3 Employ successful students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations in institutional programs that can assist us with recruiting, retaining and graduating students.
1a.4 Reshape our institutional focus on how we identify and assess talented students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
1a.5 Utilize feeder relationships to recruit diverse graduate, professional and postdoc students in all colleges and programs.
1a.6 Scale up programs that support recruitment, retention and graduation of students from historically underrepresented, underserved and international backgrounds (Action Plan Step 4: For a More Inclusive K-State).
1a.7 Develop and utilize an intersectional framework for programming and events that addresses the many forms of restorative justice.
1a.1 Increases in the number of currently and newly enrolled students from historically underrepresented, underserved and international populations in institutional programs.
1a.2 Increases in outreach frequencies to students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations groups and communities.
1a.3 Increases in enrollment of diverse graduate, professional and postdoc students across colleges and programs.
1a.4 Development and/or enhancement of strategic partnerships with HBCUs, HSIs, Native American universities and colleges, international, etc., to recruit graduate students.
1a.5 Increases in funding — internal and external — for programs that support recruitment, retention and graduation of students from historically underrepresented, underserved and international populations.
1a.6 Track engagement of students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations and communities in restorative justice programming, including efforts related to the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Framework (Action Plan Step 8: For a More Inclusive K-State).
Aim 1B
Improve financial assistance for all students by closing the unmet financial need gap, paying particular attention to students from hisotically underrepresentated and underserved populations.
1b.1 Disaggregate scholarship and financial aid data by race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic and first-generation status to better understand the impact of scholarships and financial aid on retention and graduation of students in historically underrepresented and underserved populations.
1b.3 Develop strategies to provide financial aid to students with significant unmet need to reduce loan debt.
1b.4 Develop new partnerships with community-based and affinity organizations that can financially support our students and institutional efforts to identify and recruit talented students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations.
1b.5 Create and distribute promotional advertisements that showcase the community partnerships, scholarships and financial aid opportunities available for students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations.
1b.1 Increases in the number of scholarships, assistantships, fellowships and other financial aid initiatives to support students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
1b.2 Utilization of disaggregated financial aid and scholarship data to identify opportunities for high-impact strategies to close the unmet need gap.
1b.3 Increases in the number of strategic partnerships with groups, companies, school districts and universities interested in investing in students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations.
1b.4 Increases in funding to existing grants, scholarships and other related opportunities that support the enrollment of students from historically underrepresented and underserved populations.