September 26, 2008

Changing the Face of Study Abroad

Colleges reach out to minority students in effort to reduce racial disparities

By Ingrid Norton

When Jaime Alvarez looks at his life, he sees two narratives: what might have been and what is. In the first, he gets married shortly after high school, buys a house with money from a construction job, has several kids, and comes home every night to nurse a sore back with a six-pack of beer.

In the second, he transfers from a community college to San Francisco State University, working construction to support himself. He spends his senior year in Sweden — his first time