The word on campus: Spanish spoken here

LAWRENCE -- Walk down the halls of this community college, and you'll probably hear Spanish. Students like Dominican-born Jeison King, 19, sit in lectures alongside classmates from Puerto Rico. Instructors like Emily Y. Ferguson Gonzalez go out of their way to give bilingual tutoring in biology or basic study skills. Whole families with first-generation college students come in to discuss financial aid options.

At this two-year college, nearly half of the student body is Latino. And those demographics have allowed the school to be designated by the US Department of Education as a ''Hispanic Serving Institution" -- a designation usually given to universities in the Southwest.

But this isn't Arizona or New Mexico. This is Lawrence, Mass., home to one of two Northern Essex Community College campuses. Enrollment patterns and recent demographic changes in the area have earned the Lawrence campus this federal title. The US Department of Education gives colleges that label when at least 25 percent of the student body is Latino and at least half of the enrolled Latino students are classified as low income.

Northern Essex officials estimate that about 45 percent of the 2,100 students at the school's Lawrence campus are Latino and more than half of those students are considered low income.

Now, thanks to a five-year, $2.2 million federal grant, Northern Essex has transformed itself to better serve Latino students with more minority faculty, new mentorships, and revamped student services. Three years into the grant, the school has hired bilingual staff to help with financial aid information, course advisement, and career counseling. More than 700 Latino students have received ''career exploration assistance" and around 600 became involved in the Lawrence-based mentor program. The number of Latino faculty members has jumped from one to 10.

Vivian Marmol, 18, a criminal justice student, said she feels ''at home" at the school." ''Me being Hispanic, I'm kind of glad I have some of my people" here, said Marmol as she listened last week to a Colombian band perform on campus during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. ''Without their support, I don't think I'd be as stable as I am right now. They actually provide all the information you need."

Beginning in the late 1990s, the school's Lawrence campus began to see a surge in Latino students enrolling, said Mary Ellen Ashley, the school's senior vice president for enrollment management and student services. That's when officials began moving some of the institution's ''premium" programs from the Haverhill campus to Lawrence to meet the growing needs, Ashley said.

But within a couple of years, the Lawrence campus was in desperate need of bilingual staff and faculty. By 2001, Northern Essex Community College had earned a ''Hispanic Serving Institution" title, giving it access to federal money. Officials jumped at the opportunity, securing the $2.2 million grant in 2002 to make the school more friendly to Latino students.

The reasons for the transformation were simple, school officials say. If information about college could be broken down for Latino students and parents, and if students saw that other Latinos were teaching classes at the school, obtaining a college degree would become a viable option. That's important for Latino students, said Xavier E. Pelaez, a bilingual career development adviser at the school, because most come from Latin American countries where college is solely for the ''cultural elite."

''I can demystify what financial aid is, or I can demystify the whole college experience," said Pelaez.

Ashley said new ''bilingual, bicultural" faculty give students educational role models, but more importantly they also help students who are still learning English. ''Trying to teach somebody a deep math concept or a deep science concept whose first language isn't English can be very difficult because you don't know what hooks you're hanging that knowledge on," said Ashley. ''Our bilingual faculty can."

Ferguson Gonzalez, who teaches science courses, said all of her classes are in English. But she uses Spanish phrases sometimes to bring home a point. ''When they see that I explain things and they see it's me and I can say things in Spanish," said Gonzalez, ''they say 'OK, alright, I see you doing it, then maybe there's a possibility I can do this.' " Gonzalez said she tutors some students in Spanish and constantly encourages students to consider science careers.

''They don't have to be Einsteins to be scientists," she said. ''Science is another language on its own. I tell them, 'Yes, it's going to be a bit difficult but you can do it.' "

Oscar Frias, 25, said the school's staff and instructors have been the key to his education. The aspiring graphic artist said when instructors discovered his skills, they encouraged him to develop them. ''When they found out I was into graphic designing, they went around and were able to get me a work-study position," said Frias. ''It's good because it teaches me about deadlines."

Frias has designed school brochures, bookmarkers, and the official poster for the school's Hispanic Heritage Month, which has three images -- a silhouette of a campesino, the map of the Americas, and the Lawrence tower. He is considering transferring to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell or the Massachusetts College of Art.

''We have a lot of students [who] are so talented," said Pelaez. ''We will work with them and identify what's inside of them to help them migrate into the courses of study that will best suit them later in life."

Nationally, it takes the average Latino student 6.7 years to get an associates degree, said Pelaez. ''That's far too long. A lot of them won't complete it just because no one sat down with them."

Pelaez said word is spreading among Latino students about the programs offered at Northern Essex Community College. He said he has advised students sent by others, sometimes sent by family members.

That's what Marmol, the criminal justice student, does when students ask her for college information. Marmol said she tells other students whom to go to for career and course tips. But one student didn't need much convincing: Marmol's mom. She is a returning student who is taking night classes. Marmol said her mom knew exactly who would give her the best advice.

''She knows," Marmol said. ''We both go together."