This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

No one in Terrel Bell's family went to college, and he wasn't terribly interested in being the first.

That was until he went to work with only a high school education. Working construction jobs was backbreaking and hawking cell phones on commission was slow.

"I was out of school for a year and working jobs I didn't like. That's what made me wake up and actually do it," Bell said of enrolling at the University of Utah, where he's now a freshman. "So I could do better."

Bell, who is black, is grateful he realized the importance of going to college and got a second chance. It's a realization, however, many other Utah minority students still are missing. Recently released results of such college prep tests as Advanced Placement, ACT and the SAT, show Utah minority students largely still lagging behind their white peers both in scores and participation.

The achievement gap, both in Utah and nationwide, is nothing new, but experts say the recent results reflect the challenges many minority students face in getting to college. They're difficulties that arise from cultural differences, a lack of opportunities and economic pressures, experts say.

It's vital the state help minority students overcome these challenges both for the good of the students and the economic health of Utah, said David Doty, assistant commissioner and director of policy studies for the Utah System of Higher Education.

"We should view this gap really as a warning sign, a warning sign that there are too many kids not preparing for college, not thinking about college, not going to college and not completing college, and that's not a good thing for the state of Utah," Doty said.

Nationwide, the number of students, including minority students, who took AP tests last school year swelled. In Utah - a state with a growing minority population - the numbers mostly sank.

The number of Utah minority students who took the SAT didn't waver much but the gap between scores of white and minority students stubbornly remained a difference of hundreds of points in some cases. Some minority groups saw gains on average ACT scores, but significant gaps between ethnic groups remained.

Utah Office of Education spokesman Mark Peterson said the state office hopes to try to find out what caused the drop in AP test participation, especially among some minority groups.

"It's something that becomes a growing, more urgent problem as the state becomes more diverse," Peterson said. "Literally we do not want to leave children behind and certainly not entire groups of children."

As of 2006, 36 percent of white Utahns between the ages of 18 and 24 were enrolled in college compared with only 25 percent of minorities of the same age, according to a report from The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

It's all part of the reason a Utah System of Higher Education task force came up with recommendations to the State Board of Regents late last year on how to help minority and disadvantaged students better succeed. Doty said already several of those recommendations have been brought to life through funding for programs, such as Utah Scholars, all-day kindergarten pilots and more money for need-based financial aid.

Still, he said, closing the gap will take some time.

"The proof will be five to 10 years out, assuming we can keep these initiatives rolling forward in a sustained manner," Doty said. "You'd like to see the needle inching forward ever so slightly, but it will take some commitment."

The challenge will be in breaking down the sometimes cultural, societal and economic barriers that keep some minority students from taking college prep tests and entertaining thoughts of going to college, said Octavio Villalpando, University of Utah associate vice president for diversity.

Taking AP, ACT and SAT tests costs money. Also, schools in poorer areas sometimes don't offer as many AP classes as schools in wealthier ones, he said. Oftentimes, he said, minority students don't have as many opportunities to take AP classes.

It was a notion that was obvious to U. of U. junior Nichole Garcia, who said she was the only person of color in her high school AP classes. Valery Pozo, a junior, said she was one of three minority students in her high school AP classes.

Also, sometimes minority students don't have parents or relatives who went to college and can help guide them through the application process, Villalpando said.

U. of U. junior Chris Macias said neither of his parents, who grew up mostly in Mexico, went to college and he felt ACT questions weren't geared toward him or his culture, making the test difficult in some places.

He said his parents wanted the best for him but didn't know how to guide him through the process. He didn't even start thinking about going to college until late high school, when he heard about the Upward Bound program.

Ultimately, he said, he had to be self-motivated.

"My parents came here to give me a better education, and that's what I'm going to do," Macias said. "I'm not going to let them down."

Macias, Bell, Pozo and Garcia overcame each of the challenges they faced and made it to the U. But the university knows not all minority students are so lucky. That's why this year, the U. has helped launch the Utah College Advising Corps to help high school students, especially minority and disadvantaged students, navigate their way to college.

Full-time Corps advisers are now working in eight area high schools - Taylorsville, Hunter, Granite, Kearns, East, Cottonwood, West and Granger highs - to help students with all aspects of college preparation and admissions, said Theresa Martinez, assistant vice president for academic outreach at the university. She said she expects the program to grow in coming years.

"First-generation students in general and many students of color are not thinking they're college material, that college isn't in their wildest dreams," Martinez said. "Our college-access advisers can say very loudly and clearly, 'This place is for you. These places are all meant for you, and you just have to choose.' "

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* LISA SCHENCKER can be reached at lschencker@sltrib.com or 801-257-8999.

Learn more

For more information about the Utah College Advising Corps, call Aretha Minor, UCAC director, at 801-585-5994, or visit http://www.outreach.utah.edu.