Diverse Student Population Rapidly Growing

Texas Tech University recently set an all-time high in enrollment this fall semester with 35,158 students. As the university's population grows, so has the diversity among the student body.

According to the Texas Tech Institutional Research office, the university has 14,193 students this fall semester who claimed an ethnicity other than white. That figure was 12,529 last year.

“Texas Tech is excited to see such an increase in our diverse student body,” said Texas Tech President M. Duane Nellis. “It is our goal to provide opportunities for every single student who steps foot on this campus and prepare them for their future careers. Our diverse population directly reflects the workforce when students graduate and begin their careers.”

Texas Tech's Division of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement works to create an all-inclusive environment on campus while helping students from different backgrounds succeed. With programs for first-generation college students, veterans or dependents of veterans, students from low-income homes and underrepresented groups, the university works directly with these students during their college careers and mentors them with their struggles and successes.

“The gains that Texas Tech has experienced with respect to the quality and diversity of its students is truly remarkable,” said Juan Muñoz, senior vice president for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement and vice provost for undergraduate education and student affairs. “As the university sets yet another enrollment record this fall, what is further noteworthy is the proportionate representation of Hispanics in this historic enrollment number.”

Texas Tech has a school record of 7,075 Hispanic students enrolled this fall. When it comes to undergraduate students, 6,336 are Hispanic, which is 22 percent of Texas Tech's 28,632 undergraduate population. If Texas Tech reaches 25 percent, it will be designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

Only 10 percent of all higher education institutions nationwide serve as an HSI, and the designation can lead to more funding and opportunities to recruit and retain diverse students.

 “Texas Tech University is quickly approaching the threshold necessary to become a federally recognized Hispanic Serving Institution, which will then trigger the opportunity to compete for additional federal grants,” said Muñoz. “This enrollment trajectory further reflects how Texas Tech is increasingly becoming an institution of first choice among the state's growing number of high-achieving Hispanic high school graduates.

“At Texas Tech University, Hispanic students and their families truly understand, ‘desde aqui es posible.' (‘From here, its possible.')”