Classmates' Presence Helps Minority College Students

By PETER SCHMIDT

Black and Hispanic college freshmen perform better academically if their entering class includes substantial numbers of other students from their high school, according to findings presented by researchers in Washington this month at a conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

The researchers — Marta Tienda, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University, and Jason M. Fletcher, an assistant professor of public health at