A Novel Plan to Increase Racial Diversity at an Almost All White Campus

The University of Wisconsin at La Crosse is located in the extreme western part of Wisconsin near the Minnesota border. It is hundreds of miles from the state’s main black population center in Milwaukee. As a result, less than one percent of the 9,000 students at the university are black.

But the state board of regents has embarked on an ambitious new plan to increase racial diversity on campus. Over the next three years tuition at the university will be raised by a total of $1,320. The money will be used to increase outreach and recruiting efforts to minority students and to hire black and other minority faculty, which the university hopes will attract more black students to campus. In addition, the increased tuition will be used to enhance the financial aid pool for low-income and minority students.

Before going into effect, the plan must be approved by the state legislature and the governor.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.