Saturday, June 28, 2003 - HAYWARD -- A national publication has ranked Cal State Hayward among the top universities in the nation for graduating minority students.

Black Issues in Higher Education, a magazine devoted to minority issues in the nation's universities, ranked the university 39th in the nation. The magazine used statistics from the Department of Education to create the list.

The ranking is based on the graduation of minority students during the 2001-02 academic year. During that year, Cal State Hayward awarded 1,182 degrees to minority students, 67 percent of whom were women, according to a university statement.

Although the university does not use race-based outreach programs, recruiters are able to attract a diverse student body because of the density of minorities living in the Hayward area, said Mack Lovett, assistant vice president of instructional services.

"We are strong supporters of diversity," he said. "We make sure to let them know that they are welcome and that we want to have them here."

The university's retention programs, aimed at helping students graduate, also provide assistance for minority students, even though they are open to all races, Lovett added.

Nearly 15 percent of Cal State Hayward's current student population is Latino, and 13.5 percent is African American. Whites and Asian Americans make up nearly 70 percent of the student body.

Thirteen other California State University campuses were ranked on the list, including Cal State Fullerton in fourth place and San Jose State University in eighth place.

With minorities making up 53 percent of its student body, the California State University system graduates the largest number of minorities of any university in the nation, CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said.

Potes-Fellow called the rankings "an accomplishment" and added that the university system is able to attract many minority students because of its policy of admitting any student with a grade-point average of 3.0 or greater.

"This university provides access to minority students and a large number of California students," she said. "This is a very generous policy for access of high school students into higher education."

The system does not have a policy of using recruitment and retention or other minority outreach programs in its admissions process, Potes-Fellow said.

Race-based admissions policies have been illegal in California public institutions since the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996.