CSUSM ranked in the top 100 of more than 4,000 U.S. colleges and universities for graduating minorities and won a national award for its diversity in recruitment and retention of both students and employees.

The magazine, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, said CSUSM placed 74th for Hispanics receiving a Bachelor’s degree.

The university awarded 3,200 degrees and credentials in May. Thirty-five percent of its graduates are minorities and 55 percent were the first in their families to receive a four-year diploma ‒ the best results in CSUSM history.

For 30 years, Diverse magazine has focused on news, information and commentary on American higher education, said the CSUSM Office of Communication, and is the only magazine in the nation in which focuses on opportunities and access, said the CSUSM Office of Communications in a release.

The campus reports its student population is 3 percent African American, 10 percent Asian and Pacific Islander, under 1 percent Native American, 41 percent Latino, 31 percent Caucasian, 8 percent who identify as other and 6 percent who claim multiple ethnicities.

Also in August, Insight into Diversity magazine gave the university the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award for the third year in a row. The magazine is one of the oldest covering diversity in higher education and focusing on gender, race, ethnicity, the LGBTQ community, veterans and those with disabilities.

CSUSM was one of the 83 colleges and universities in the United States to receive the award, the Office of Communications said.

CSUSM and the other honorees of the award will be featured in the November issue of Insight into Diversity.

The application process for a HEED award has high expectations and it also consists in the recruitment and retention of students and employees and both categories. CSUSM has about 2,000 employees and has enrolled more than 14,000 students.

CSUSM is expected to continue receiving HEED awards due to its several student resource centers, the university said. Among its initiatives is the Black Student Resource Center, expected to celebrate a ribbon cutting this year. It will join other resource centers, including The Latino@ Center, The LGBTQ Pride Center, The Cross-Cultural Center, The Gender Equity Center, The Veterans Center, and The ACE Scholars Services Center.