According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Native Americans make up 10.4 percent of New Mexico’s population, well above the national average of 1.2 percent. UNM’s student body, on the other hand, is only 6 percent Native American, a report presented at the September Board of Regents meeting.
The rate at which Native American students drop out or fail to graduate on time, also known as the retention rate, is well below the average of other ethnic groups at UNM, Provost Chaouki Abdallah said.
Because there is such a small number of Native Americans at UNM, the data shifts severely when only two or three students do not succeed at graduating, Abdallah said. The same happens when another two or three students graduate successfully and the rates spike up suddenly.
Pamela Agoyo is the director of the American Indian Student Services office at UNM, an organization founded in 1980 to help raise the Native American student population and offer support in the form of financial assistance and cultural belonging.
The assumption seems to be that Native students are coming to campus unprepared for the different and overwhelming responsibilities of academic life and this presents a big problem, Agoyo said.
“Our previous graduation rate has been around 25 percent, but we’ve seen some small gains and we’re at about 31.5 percent,” she said.
The most recent overall graduation rate for the entire student body, however, is about 48 percent.
The retention rates for Caucasian students, both nationally and at UNM, are typically higher than the rates for minorities, something Abdallah called the “achievement gap.” Retention rates for Hispanic students are now better than they have ever been, and Abdallah said he hopes the rates for Native American students will increase as well.
“We’re going to be focusing a lot more on the Native American populations this year,” he said.
When asked about the retention rates for Native students, Agoyo did not comment.
There are a number of struggles Native students have to overcome to attend college and do well in a university setting, and people at UNM don’t seem to agree on the source of the problem, or how to handle it.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
There are many unique cultural and academic challenges that must be considered to begin to explain these rates, said Kate Krause, dean of University College.
“If you compare across groups of students, that’s true — Native American students who come here face more challenges,” she said.
Although AISS provides information on scholarships and mentoring programs, not many students take advantage of these opportunities or don’t meet the requirements for scholarships, Krause said.
In addition to academic issues, Native students have cultural and community responsibilities, and for some traditional ceremonies this could mean being away from campus for days or even weeks, she said.
Elysia Tsosie, a psychology major from the Navajo tribe, said transitioning from life on the reservation to attending classes at UNM was difficult because the schools she attended did not do enough to get her ready for the challenges of college.
“It’s hard. There are always two sides coming from the reservation — the values are special and unique, but the schools aren’t doing enough to prepare us for the college environment,” Tsosie said. “It’s like the local schools see the students as a burden and want us in and out as fast as possible.”
Agoyo agreed that many Native American students arrive unprepared, but said AISS doesn’t want to focus on the problems students faced in the past, but instead on what the student wants to achieve in the future.
“We see a lot of students coming in unprepared and that’s where we pick them up and focus on where they’re going, not where they come from. We want to celebrate how and when they get to where they want to be.”
Krause, however, doesn’t see students being unprepared as the main problem, although she’s not sure what the problem is.
“It’s not that students are coming in less prepared or with lower test scores. It must be something about being at UNM,” Krause said.
Despite all the challenges, Tsosie said her culture and heritage are a source of pride and comfort, and her identity gives her strength to get through college life.
“Being really far from home, no matter what you do, you’re still Native. It’s one of the most prominent parts of yourself, it’s your identity. In a way it’s almost laughable — you’re so small and the world is so big, yet it still brings you comfort because you know who you are,” she said.
Raleigh Silversmith is a freelance reporter, and Jonathan Baca is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. They can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter
@DailyLobo.
