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Hispanic Business magazine has ranked the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech as one of the nation's top 10 engineering graduate schools for Hispanic students. Tech's engineering school held the number three spot this year.
"The College of Engineering is working harder than ever to ensure that Hispanic students can excel at Georgia Tech," said Don Giddens, dean of the College of Engineering. "With programs such as the Goizueta Foundation fellowships and scholarships, Georgia Tech maintains its long-standing commitment to the Hispanic community."
Since 2001, the Goizueta Foundation, established by the late Coca-Cola Co. CEO Roberto C. Goizueta, has contributed more than $6.5 million to boost recruitment and retention of Hispanic students at the graduate and undergraduate levels through scholarships and fellowships, as well as endowing a faculty chair and a rotating chair position for junior faculty.
Support from the foundation in 2004 allowed Tech to hire a program director, Jorge Breton, to support Hispanic recruiting and administer the scholarships. This fall Tech awarded 53 Goizueta Foundation-funded scholarships and fellowships totaling $220,578.
"We are being recognized for our continuing commitment to recruit and retain a diverse student population, including Hispanic engineers," said J. Carlos Santamarina, professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Goizueta Foundation faculty chair. "This is a manifestation of Georgia Tech's emphasis on placing resources to create the right environment, the right mixture of faculty and support staff, and it's a sign of our commitment to welcoming students of Hispanic origin and making sure they feel comfortable at Tech."
Hispanic students are growing at the undergraduate level as well. This year the number of Hispanic students entering the freshman class grew 24 percent over last year. Since 2001, the number of Hispanic freshmen has jumped 179 percent.
The ranking also cited student-support organizations at Tech such as the Spanish Speaking Organization, La Unidad Latina, Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
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