More than 1,000 high school students visited Stockton University for its annual Latino Visitation Day.
The students came from nearly 30 high schools in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Stockton University’s director of admissions, Heather Medina, said since the annual event began more than 25 years ago, the percentage of Latino students at the university has grown to 19% of the total student population.
“This program gives them the opportunity to see students just like themselves studying here at the university and going on to continue their education and do great things,” Medina said.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Stockton ranked seventh in the nation among public schools for the highest graduation rate among Hispanic and overall minority students.
Leilani Moreno attended Latino Visitation Day as a high school student before deciding to attend the university.
She’s currently a junior biology major.
“If they’re able to see it, they’re able to envision it for themselves,” Moreno said. “If they’re able to see that at a such young age, then they’d want to obtain that goal.”
Even for high school students visiting who aren’t Latino like Dovion Edmonds, it’s important to see a school’s diversity.
“It’s very exciting to learn about everybody’s different cultures and where everybody comes from,” Edmonds said.