Even if the students hold non-voting positions, they can provide valuable insights and advice regarding recruitment of minority students. Inclusion of such students also can send a message that minority students are indeed welcome in all aspects of life on campus. Admissions officers and faculty members can encourage current students and minority alumni to make calls to promising minority applicants or admittees considering their institutions. Such expressions of personal interest can send a strong message to students and provide concrete examples of individuals who have succeeded at the institution. One of the findings of that study was that financial aid is especially important to minority families, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds or in which a son or daughter represents the first generation within the family to go to college.
Faculty members can point out the career opportunities that previous students have enjoyed.
Such individual stories of success may stick with and inspire people far more than statistical facts or figures. As college costs continue to rise and institutions face increasing financial pressures, the practice of need-blind admissions is becoming more and more rare. Institutions that place a priority on the recruitment and retention of students from underprivileged backgrounds face a difficult burden, knowing that such students will need financial aid in order to enroll and graduate. When facing such budgetary constraints, it is helpful for an institution to consider carefully its overall mission and the contributions it is supposed to make to its community. Retention of Minority Students For too long, many of our institutions have been focused more on the admissions process for minority students than on what happens to minority students once they arrive on campus.