A small but growing number of Bay Area nonprofit groups that help young black and Latino men get into college are expanding programs designed to keep them there, reports The New York Times.

While higher-education charities and government policies have traditionally focused on lifting barriers to college entry, groups like the East Bay College Fund are supplementing financial aid by providing mentors, training in the basic skills students need to live on their own, and other efforts to help ensure that minority students graduate.

Experts say such programs provide a model for closing a college-completion gap. The graduation rates for black and Latino men who entered the California university system in 2001 were 34 and 44 percent, respectively, compared with 62 percent for white males.

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