Theresa Martinez, assistant vice president for academic outreach at the U., said much of the drop in minority and low-income students at the U. is due to an achievement gap that starts much earlier. By the time many of the students get through public education, they are already on a non-college track or have been underprepared for the rigor of higher education, she said.

"That's where the unfairness comes in. When you really think about it, because of the achievement gap, we're not seeing these kids applying for college, so we can't be held responsible for students we don't even see," Martinez said.

Instead of focusing minority recruitment efforts on high schoolers, Martinez said, U. officials are now pushing to get into elementary schools and get students on track for college from an earlier age. Efforts like the Adelante program take kids from low-income, high-minority neighborhoods and introduce them to the college campus before they even enter middle school.

"I don't think we've had a perfect record, but we're working toward something really meaningful and sustainable," she said.

Although the report only graded the U., Doty said state education leaders are trying to address Utah's lagging enrollments for disadvantaged students statewide. A minority task force is hammering out recommendations to increase those enrollments by looking at pre-college preparation, academic support, college mentoring and financial aid.

"All of our institutions could probably do a better job at creating a climate on their campus that's welcoming and friendly to minority students," he said. "That's something we're trying to shine a much brighter light on. One of the things we have traditionally lacked is a systematic commitment to the resources that we really need to make some of this happen."

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com