GROSSMONT COLLEGE LAUDED FOR MINORITY DEGREES

EL CAJON

Grossmont College has been recognized as one of the top community colleges in the country for the high number of associate degrees it awarded to minorities a couple of years ago.

“Diverse: Issues In Higher Education,” a news magazine dedicated to diversity in higher education, ranked Grossmont No. 52 in the country.

The data from Diverse shows that Grossmont awarded 1,395 degrees to minority students in 2017-18, a 30 percent increase over the preceding year.

The magazine says that minority students are those students who self-identified as African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American or as part of two or more races. During the 2017– 18 academic year, Grossmont awarded more than 4,200 degrees to nearly 1,800 students, the most of any community college in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to the Grossmontcuyamaca Community College District that oversees the El Cajon college.

The data was compiled for Diverse by Rhonda V. Sharpe, founder and president of the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race. Diverse said it is the only national report on the ability of U.S. colleges and universities to award associate degrees to African-american, Asian American, Hispanic and Native American students.

With nearly 1,000 community colleges in the country, the ranking places Grossmont among the top 5 percent in degree production for minority students.

“This recognition shows that our collective energies toward high, rising and equitable success among all groups, which was recently commended by our accrediting agency, are working for our students,” said Grossmont College President Nabil Abu-ghazaleh.