INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana statistics show not enough Hispanic students are enrolling in college.

Now, a new task force is stepping up to change that.

“We’re all aware that Latinos are the fastest-growing group. We’re on pace to be the biggest minority group in the state of Indiana,” said José Medina, the director of business and community engagement at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

According to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, the rate of Hispanic students enrolling in college is 43%. That’s below the state average rate of 53%.

“I really want to see those metrics really jump up and make a significant difference, see those percentage points for students enrolling in college, Latino and Hispanic students, grow at a significant rate,” said Medina

To help increase enrollment and graduation rates, they’ve partnered with the nonprofit Indiana Latino Institute to create a Latino Student Task Force.

The group aims to share strategies and best practices with colleges so that these students have access to higher education, regardless of their status.

“Working with our philanthropic partners that have those means and have those scholarships available, It’s kind of pivoting, and being like, ‘Hey, these are some other opportunities that are available for you that you can qualify for to make sure that it is not a detour or a deterrent to go to college,’” said Medina.

Rachel Santos is the director of education policy and strategic partnerships for the Indiana Latino Institute.

She says students and their parents shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions.

“Do you have a director of Latino student success? Do you have a scholarship for 21st Century Scholar students? Do you have scholarships for undocumented students? Ask those questions. It’s ok to ask those questions, and the institutions should be ready to respond,” said Santos.

Santos says these best practices will be presented to the Commission next year at the Indiana Civil Rights Commission Meeting in May.

“This task force is one example of leaders coming together to say that we will not ignore the student population,” Santos said. “This is the future of our state and we’re going to support them to be successful.”

The task force says they will also be working closely with universities to make sure they are able to meet the needs of Hispanic students.