Minority engineering programs (MEPs) were established in the late 1970s to recruit minority students to engineering education and reduce their dropout rate. MEPs at 20 engineering schools were examined in relation to institutional environment; pre-enrollment activities; and services that encourage community building, provide academic support, and enhance students' personal and professional development. Data from interviews with program staff, faculty members, university staff, and current and former students were analyzed. Eight of the 20 universities were identified as being the most successful in recruiting and graduating minority students. MEPs at these universities tended to recruit the best qualified students directly from high schools, establish summer programs that stress study and critical thinking skills, provide study centers, have sufficient supplies of tutors available to intervene when students had academic problems, and have higher levels of university funding when compared to other programs. Although enrollment figures for minority students in engineering programs have increased, the attrition gap between minority and nonminority students remains. Recommendations largely target universities and include the need for increasing institutional support for MEPs, increasing student financial aid, increasing the number of minority engineering faculty, addressing diversity issues, and initiating longitudinal studies to better understand MEP participants and dropouts. Includes data tables and figures. (LP)