NIU awarded more doctoral degrees to African-Americans in the education discipline than any other public university in the nation, according to a recent survey in Black Issues in Higher Education.

There is an annual ranking of “Top Degree Producers,” which is a national survey of degrees awarded to minority students, according to a NIU press release. The survey was based on the U.S. Department of Education data for 2001-2002 academic year.

Christine Sorensen, dean of the College of Education, said NIU’s success can be attributed to having a faculty committed to serving under-represented groups.

“We take programs to where under-represented groups are,” she said. Sorensen said individuals are recruited from the city and eventually come to NIU to receive their doctorate degree.

NIU led the ranking with the College of Education in public universities and came in fourth overall behind private institutions. Sorensen said NIU has been in the the top rankings for the last five years.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said, “it’s the highest ranking we’ve ever had.”

This high ranking came from, in part, NIU’s assistantship program, according to the press release. The Rhoten A. Smith Assistantship program provides 75 minority students with graduate assistantships. The university also provides 30 to 35 tuition-waiver scholarships to minority students pursuing doctoral degrees.

The adult and higher education discipline, which also contributed to the high ranking, entails higher education, corporate training, community development and social movements, according to the press release. Graduates from the program have worked at other universities, community colleges and military and justice systems.

Christine Sorensen, dean of the College of Education, said the college is working toward the same goals for Latinos. She said the college has had the highest increase in Latino population than any other college at NIU.

Sorensen is hoping to offer graduate degrees in elementary education with a bilingual backing. There are many courses that are being offered off-campus to students with a high population of Hispanic students such as Aurora, Elgin, Cicero and Chicago.