The Road To Nebraska

Thinking About College

LEXINGTON — The road from Manuel Roman’s Lexington Middle School classroom to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is 166 miles long, a straight shot east with no unexpected twists.

The seventh-grader believes as much. He drew a map for himself to prove it.

On one side of the bright red piece of paper is the middle school. Then a long, flat line representing Interstate 80. On the other side, marked with a star, is UNL.
“I want to be a doctor like my dad,” Manuel said, clutching his map. “Or a mechanic.”

Just 12 years old, Manuel doesn’t question whether he’ll succeed. He loves soccer and math class, his friends and family. He wants to get a good job so he can help care for his mother in Lexington and visit his father in Nicaragua, whom he hasn’t seen in five years.

“I can’t wait to go to college,” he says eagerly.

But the road to the future is not always easy for kids like Manuel.

More than one in three Hispanic high school students in Nebraska drop out, according to data from the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. Of those who attend UNL, 40 percent earn a degree within six years, compared with a graduation rate of 62 percent of UNL students overall and 63.5 percent of whites, 54.2 percent of Asians, 48.7 percent of blacks and 38.9 percent of Natives.

So as Hispanic numbers rise rapidly across the state — particularly in towns such as Lexington, where meatpacking plants offer immigrants the promise of work — UNL faces a tough new challenge: What’s the best way to keep a historically struggling population on the path to college?

A new program called “Nuestra Familia, Nuestra Universidad (Our Family, Our University)” aims for answers.

UNL officials spent the past week in Lexington, Grand Island, Gering and Scottsbluff trying to reach students with a message they might not have heard before: Higher education is possible.

And, as a twist on UNL’s long-standing efforts to attract minority students, recruiters are hitting elementary and middle schools heavier than before, seeking to get kids thinking about college as soon as possible.

“Sometimes when we meet them as seniors, it’s too late. They don’t have the math, the right classes,” Amber Hunter, assistant director of admissions, said Thursday as she watched dozens of Lexington Middle School students play leadership and team-building games on the school’s sports field.

“We want to get them early, get them excited.”

The program’s name comes from a Hispanic emphasis on family, Hunter said, a cultural trait that makes some parents question if sending their children hundreds of miles away for college is the right idea.

“We’re saying we’re going to give them a family,” she said.

Hunter laughed as students played “Husker Says,” a variation of “Simon Says,” and raced one another down the field. Nearby, others played soccer and worked on brainteasers.

Hunter waited for them to finish. Then she gathered everyone in the middle of the field.

“You will graduate from middle school,” she shouted.

“I promise, Amber.”

“You will graduate from high school.”

“I promise, Amber.”

“You will get good grades.”

“I promise, Amber.”

“Repeat after me: I believe in myself.”

“I believe in myself!”

Then the children scattered for lunch, and Hunter waited for the next group.

In all, she met about 5,000 students this week.

More than half of Lexington’s residents are Hispanic, according to U.S. Census figures; that percentage is much higher in its schools. Only about one person in 10 in the town holds a bachelor’s degree, far less than the national average of 24 percent. Nearly half speak a language other than English in their homes.

Because many immigrants didn’t go to college, they’re ill-equipped to put their children on a path toward higher education, said Juan Franco, UNL’s vice chancellor for student affairs.

Many parents don’t know, for example, that UNL requires four years of high school math and an ACT score for admission, Franco said.

Many also doubt they can afford college, especially given rising tuition costs across the country, he said. And because many don’t speak English, they struggle with complicated loan applications.

Most parents want the best for their children but aren’t sure how to get it, Franco said.

That’s where UNL wants to step in.

“It’s a long process to get them prepared, and hopefully we can do better,” Franco said. “We just want to get UNL out there.”

Inside the middle school on Thursday, UNL admissions representatives — most of them recent UNL graduates in their early 20s — passed out checklists to the students.

Take math, science and English, the handout said. Get good grades and take the ACT. Keep a resume.

“Do these things, and I guarantee every single one of you can go to college,” recruiter Matt Ellis told students in one classroom.

“A ‘B’ in a tough course is better than an ‘A’ in P.E.,” he added later.

While Ellis spoke, Manuel turned his handout over and drew his map. Then Ellis handed out UNL bags to a few lucky students. Manuel got one.

“I’m going to carry this all the way to college,” he said.

Franco believes the incentives for recruiting historically underserved students are plenty. For the university, more students mean more tuition revenue, critical as UNL seeks to emerge from a decadelong enrollment slump.

And for the state, better-educated students mean better leaders and taxpaying workers with better jobs, Franco said.

That, he said, will lead to a healthier economy and a higher standard of living.

“(‘Nuestra Familia’) needs to grow. This is just the beginning,” he said. “I believe we’re already making a difference.”

As evidence, UNL appears to have already gained one solid recruit.

As Hunter was preparing to leave Scottsbluff, a young student named Carlo walked up to her and tapped her on the arm.

“I’ll see you at UNL, Amber,” he said.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Carlo grinned.

“Guaranteed.”

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