Undergraduate and Graduate Student Support Services

The Assistant Deputy Chancellor for Diversity is an advocate for all underrepresented groups at MU and coordinates a wide range of campus support programs through the Diversity Office. The Dean of the Graduate School coordinates programs designed specifically for PhD candidates with a special emphasis on the recruitment, retention, and graduation of minority PhD candidates.

Student Access and Academic Success

Both MU and Biological Sciences are aggressively seeking to increase the number of underrepresented minority (African American, Hispanic American, and Native American), underserved, first-generation college and other traditionally disadvantaged students who enroll in our undergraduate and graduate programs and that subsequently graduate from MU. In order to further diversify the student body and ensure affordability for both underrepresented minority and other underserved students, MU offers a variety of scholarship packages to entering students of color and students with financial need. The scholarships for underrepresented minorities, which are renewable based on academic performance, support an average of 1100 students per year.

11.2% of our undergraduate biology majors
are Black, Hispanic, and Native American scholars

12% of our PhD candidates are Black and Hispanic,
1.5 times the national average

84% of Black and Hispanic graduate students
in the past 10 years have graduated and moved
to postdoctoral positions or are making satisfactory
progress in their PhD program at MU

Our undergraduate student body is increasingly more diverse: our African American biology majors increased 19-fold in the last decade and our undergraduate biology majors now include 11.2% Black, Hispanic, and Native American scholars. The percentage of Black and Hispanic candidates in our PhD program (12%) is 1.5 times the national average. Of the Black and Hispanic graduate students enrolled in the past 10 years, 84% have either graduated and moved to postdoctoral positions or are making satisfactory progress in their PhD program at MU.

Student Success Center MU has developed a number of strong academic support programs for all undergraduate students, especially minorities. The Office of Academic Retention Services provides a suite of programs to increase the academic success and graduation rate of undergraduate students of color. The Minority Achievement Program provides academic support through academic enrichment workshops, one-on-one individualized attention from retention specialists, tutoring services, peer mentors, and referral to other campus resources including the Student Success Center. As a consequence, and counter to national trends, MU's African American freshmen return for their sophomore year at a rate of 81%.

Supportive Social Environment

Social and cultural organizations are an important part of MU's extensive and highly effective support infrastructure designed to promote an inclusive environment, networking, and a sense of community among all students. The Association of Black Graduate and Professional Students, the Black Culture Center, the Hispanic-American Leadership Organization, the Women's Center, and a local chapter of the Association of Women in Science offer minority students a place to meet, mingle, and enjoy new friends. In the spirit of developing "one campus", their programs are inclusive rather than exclusive, and offer cultural, educational and social events that provide all students an opportunity to celebrate their own culture, background, special interests, and customs while simultaneously sharing them with the wider campus community. They provide academic and personal counseling and opportunities for all students to interact freely and responsibly with one another. The Access Office coordinates services for students with mobility, visual and hearing impairments and learning disabilities.