By Paul Fain

Orlando, Fla.

College leaders must do more to enroll and encourage students "who want to be smart," says Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Mr. Hrabowski, during the opening speech on Sunday at the annual meeting of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, said trustees have a responsibility to help change a culture in higher education that has been too slow in its efforts to increase student retention and graduation rates, which lag badly among underrepresented minority groups.

"It's not just access; it is success," said Mr. Hrabowski. He added that only a small proportion of the Ph.D.'s awarded in the United States each year are earned by black and Hispanic students, who make up approximately 40 percent of the nation's elementary- and secondary-school population.

The financial challenges faced by much of higher education dominated the meeting's agenda last year. For this year's meeting, the governing boards' group has added a focus on student success.

Competition From Abroad

Mr. Hrabowski, who spoke here while Congress worked toward a landmark vote on health-care and student-lending legislation, said the country is facing a "pivotal point" in its history, when long-ranging decisions will be made regarding education.

Part of the impetus, he said in his energetic address, is that "global interdependence" has led Americans to reflect on their position in the world. And college presidents and trustees have their hands full when contemplating how to compete with universities overseas.

Mr. Hrabowski is a mathematician who has earned many plaudits for his 18 years at the helm of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, particularly for success in graduating minority students in mathematics and science. He used numbers to describe the magnitude of the challenge for American universities, noting that the most educated 10 percent of China and India equal about 240 million people.

"They have as many geniuses as we have citizens," Mr. Hrabowski said.

Furthermore, he said, American colleges are struggling to build on gains made over the last 40 years in college-completion rates, at a time when a four-year degree is more important than ever.

To increase "inclusive excellence" on campuses, he said, trustees and presidents must encourage better use of technology and data analysis in tracking student success. Mr. Hrabowski said his university, prodded by the University System of Maryland's broad-reaching efficiency program, now has quick access to much more detailed data on students. And those informational gains were made while the system was often dealing with state budget cuts.

But technology isn't enough, said Mr. Hrabowski, who peppered his speech with examples of undergraduates at Baltimore County who have faced serious adversity, such as a student who was abandoned in a crack house by his mother at the age of 13. That student graduated, earned a Fulbright scholarship, and is now a graduate student at Princeton University, he said.

Trustees, Mr. Hrabowski said, must do their part to create a nurturing environment for students when they arrive on campus, particularly those who need extra help.

"Imagine how much more they can do when they know there are people there who care," he said.