Des Moines Register, IA
07-05-07
Colleges try new tactics to attract Hispanics
By LISA ROSSI
REGISTER AMES BUREAU
Several colleges and universities in Iowa are poised to add Spanish-language
pages to their university Web sites and some are buying Spanish-language radio
ads - clear signs that higher-education officials in Iowa are increasing their efforts
to recruit Hispanic students.
The University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Des Moines Area
Community College are developing ways to make information on their Web sites
available in Spanish. Iowa State University officials also said they foresee the
addition of a Spanish section to the school's Web site. Grinnell College leaders
said there's an "ongoing conversation" about adding Spanish to its site.
That's only part of the effort among Iowa colleges to reach out to the fastestgrowing racial group in Iowa's public schools.
From 1985 to 2005-06, the number of Hispanic students enrolled in Iowa's public
schools rose from 4,069 to 28,145 - a nearly 600 percent increase. The number
of white students decreased by 9.5 percent in that same time period.
The number of these students attending Iowa's universities in the past 20 years
has grown more slowly. Hispanic enrollment at the three state universities has
more than doubled from 634 Hispanic students in the fall of 1985 to 1,582
students in the fall of 2006.
But not every school in Iowa says it will use Spanish to market itself - and not
every Iowan agrees that colleges should be promoting themselves in a language
other than English.
DMACC, U of I lead way in state
Des Moines Area Community College and the University of Iowa are among the
leaders in the state in using Spanish to reach potential students.
DMACC plans to air its first Spanish radio ads this summer on a Spanishlanguage radio station. The ads are part of a $10,000 campaign to reach out to
Hispanics.
"We would be very willing to market in any language if there are individuals we
can attract," said Rob Denson, DMACC's president. "We're going to have a
tremendous work force shortage worldwide. It's very important we reach out to
every individual who can or wants to work."
At the University of Iowa, a committee is examining how to put admission,
financial aid and housing information in a Spanish section on its Web site, school
officials said.
At the University of Northern Iowa, officials expect that by the end of the fall
semester, the portion of the school's Web site directed toward prospective
students would have a clickable option for a Spanish version of the site, said Phil
Patton, the university's registrar and interim director of admissions.
The university is also looking at offering information in more languages on its
international admissions site, he said.
"Here you may be specially targeting parents who may not be as fluent as their
son or daughters, and parents are a vital part of helping sons or daughters in the
college entrance experience," Patton said.
UNI recruiters will also start visiting schools that have a growing number of
Hispanic students, such as Marshalltown High School, he said.
"It's a growing population that has not been served," Patton said.
Iowa schools aren't the only ones reaching out to Hispanic students.
Michigan State University and Arizona State University, among others, offer
information in Spanish on their Web sites.
Mixed views among Iowans, immigrants
The move to boost Spanish-language recruitment of potential Hispanic students
and their families is met with opposition from people concerned about access to
education and illegal immigration.
"You have to have a working knowledge of English," said Ron Harness, 50, from
Ottumwa, who said immigrants who enter the country illegally "don't assimilate."
"They are not going to learn English," he said. "They are going to suck our school
systems dry trying to run English as a Second Language (programs)."
Immigrants in the country illegally can currently enroll at Iowa's universities and
community colleges, but they are not eligible for federal financial aid.
Some people who recently immigrated to Iowa from Mexico are also mixed in
their support for Spanish-language recruiting.
Hector Barrera, 23, came to the United States four years ago to be with his
parents. He's taking English-language classes at DMACC's Success Center, a
building on Des Moines' south side where students learn English, prepare for the
General Education Development test or take college-credit classes.
Barrera said he has mixed feelings about colleges offering recruiting materials in
Spanish.
"I think it's a good idea, but if you're here, you should learn the language," he
said through a translator. Barrera, who works at a flooring store, said in America
he "listens and listens, and gets away from the fear of speaking English."
Tina Contreras, 30, of Des Moines is a mother of two who said she would be
better able to reach her goal of obtaining an interior design degree if colleges
offered more information in Spanish.
She moved to the United States six years ago and is studying to get her GED (in
Spanish) and is also taking English classes, she said through a translator.
Mario Palomino, 22, also supports recruiting in Spanish. Palomino came to the
United States from Mexico in February with the goal of learning English and
getting a master's degree in communication.
Education, he said, is a pathway for him to "see different problems" in the world
and help people.
One school plans to stick with English
It is not historically unheard of for businesses to write ads in languages other
than English. Donna Gabaccia, a professor of immigration history at the
University of Minnesota, said as soon as advertising began in the 1890s, U.S.
businesses started printing ads in foreign-language newspapers.
Business sought to make emotional bonds with immigrants - most of whom are
bilingual after five or six years in the country - by printing their native language,
she said.
"When American businesses choose to market in the native tongue, it's to send
the emotional message that 'You're important to us,' " she said.
Marketing in Spanish is unusual for universities, Gabaccia said. That's because
universities only started to use the marketing techniques that the corporate world
adopted in the 1980s, she said.
But not every college in Iowa is looking to incorporate Spanish into its student
recruitment.
Officials at Drake University, one of Iowa's largest private colleges, said they are
not pursuing a Spanish-language option for their recruitment materials and do not
employ recruitment staff that are fluent in Spanish.
"Everything we have does go out in English exclusively," said Laura Linn, director
of admission at Drake.
"I hate to say we would never consider those sorts of things, because once a
student arrives here, they need to have such a pretty solid understanding of the
English language. We would want them in the process to do that as well."