NAU named in top 100 colleges by ‘Hispanic Outlook’

Northern Arizona University again ranked in the top 100 colleges in the nation for Latinos, as reported by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine.

In its May 2 edition, Hispanic Outlook ranks NAU 55th for undergraduate degrees earned by Latinos, up four places over last year. In a steady climb since 2003, NAU has advanced 14 places in the ranking, continually graduating more Latinos with bachelor’s degrees each year.

Master’s degrees granted to Latinos from NAU held at 28th in the nation for the second year.

NAU was 42nd in doctoral degrees earned by Latinos in 2009, but changes to the criteria dropped the university out of the top 100 for 2010. The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics changed criteria for the top doctoral degrees earned by Latinos to a combination of professional practice, doctoral degrees and research/scholarship.

The magazine also reported the top 10 institutions awarding bachelor’s degrees to Latinos by academic program. NAU remained at eighth place for the second year for bachelor’s degrees in education awarded to Latinos.

The rankings were derived from data gathered from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System program. Degrees listed were conferred between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010.

The complete list of top 100 institutions is available online.

Of the 25,204 students enrolled at NAU in the fall 2010, 3,843 identified themselves as Hispanic—making up nearly 18 percent of the university’s student population.