On Tuesday, voters will once again consider whether race and gender can be determining factors in college admissions, public-agency hiring and contracting and whether to reverse course in a state where the demographics of its electorate have dramatically changed over the past two decades. Even if Proposition 16, which would strike the ban from the state constitution, is approved, a series of U.
Since voters in stopped the California State University system from recruiting students based on race and offering recruited students scholarships to relieve financial burdens, the share of Black and Native American students has fallen.
And even for those students who completed the required course sequence for admission, known as A-G, the gap was 13 percentage points. At the same time, Asians are overrepresented at the University of California — nearly triple their share of high school graduates. And white students on campus remain slightly below their share of graduates. One of the issues at play is a dramatically different California. Most of that stems from the growth in the increase in Latino high school graduates — from about 82, in to more than , in The numbers of Blacks and Asians also increased but their share of the total dropped.
Banned from using race to decide on admissions, the University of California tried proxies, a list of 14 factors, such as census data, to identify poor neighborhoods and family income to identify underrepresented students, but, experts said, without enough success. She led efforts to get Prop. The campuses vary in diversity and are autonomous, within the law, to carry out different approaches to recruitment and admissions.
But, opponents argue, admission decisions should be based on merit. Some Asian Americans, for example, fear that increasing admissions to other groups will only result in decreases for them. Getting voter approval for Prop. Gavin Newsom and other leading Democrats. In , the ban was approved by voters On faculty, White said Prop.
But the man who led the fight against affirmative action in has resurfaced in California to challenge Prop. Known as the father of Prop. If students are struggling, he said in an interview , they need to work harder. He was a Sacramento developer when the ban passed. Since , white students gained at CSU but their enrollment remains four percentage points below their share of high school graduates. At UC, the gap is six percentage points between white students who took the required high school courses for admission and those enrolled.
Asian students make up an increasingly larger share of the enrollment at UC. Prior to Prop. Some were awarded targeted scholarships and enlisted in programs that helped with tutoring and mentors. There were also programs to help students qualify for admission by completing the required A-G sequence of high school courses.
But all the programs that targeted support and gave academic help to students vanished. Many underrepresented students accepted to the public universities are poor and the first in their family to go to college.
They often need help adjusting to university life, he said, adding that programs designed for the summer between high school and college can be critical to their success. Jessica Ramos, a college-bound student at Skyline High School in Oakland says worthy students often need a boost. At CSU, White said that affirmative action would allow the system to create scholarships specifically for underrepresented students. The programs leading to a UC degree enabled those students to boost their earning potential after graduation.
Grace Pang, a senior at San Jose State, who is Chinese and Vietnamese, says affirmative action programs aimed at women and Asian students could have helped her with her living expenses as the first member of a low-income family to go to college. For some students, CSU may have the advantage of lower costs and more locations around the state, 23 to nine undergraduate campuses for UC. The gap between enrolled freshmen and those meeting admission requirements is about half of that.
That number, experts said, shows the reality that Black, Native American and Latino students who are historically underrepresented face. Beginning as early as preschool , these experiences can hinder social-emotional and behavioral development; limit educational experiences; obstruct the process of identifying and addressing underlying issues; and contribute to increased family stress and burden due to challenges in finding an affordable and suitable alternative placement.
Data also show that race-based bullying is on the rise , and black and Latinx students who experience bullying are more likely to suffer academically than their white peers. Until the racial wealth gap and other forms of structural racism are eliminated, income alone will be insufficient for promoting diversity on college campuses nationwide. Overall, affirmative action is a mechanism that has allowed historically excluded groups to attend college.
Students of color have long faced systemic barriers in the American education system, including exclusion , segregation , underfunding , fewer resources , and lower familial wealth.
As a result, students of color are more likely to fare worse on the indicators of success that colleges evaluate for admission, making it harder for people of color to access top-tier public and private colleges. Race-conscious admissions practices, such as affirmative action, attempt to remedy these inequities by encouraging colleges to take a closer look at some of the nontraditional factors that could make a student successful—factors often overlooked in traditional admissions criteria.
Wealthier, often white, students are more likely to have had a parent that attended college—meaning those students are likely to benefit from practices such as legacy preference. In addition, white students are likely to have greater amounts of wealth and attend K schools that provide multiple extracurricular activities , sports programs , and college prep resources. As a result, these students are particularly competitive applicants for top-tier institutions.
Affirmative action allows colleges to use holistic reviews to consider race as one of many factors under evaluation when reviewing applicants. Therefore, affirmative action betters the chances of a student of color receiving fair, comprehensive consideration instead of being overlooked for admission.
Despite the barriers low-income students and students of color face to gain access to higher education, research has shown that once admitted to top-tier institutions, low-income students complete their degree at higher rates and earn almost as much as wealthy students postgraduation.
These findings suggest that all students, regardless of background, benefit from the value top-tier institutions provide. So while some argue that low-income students and students of color may be overwhelmed by the academic rigor at selective colleges, research suggests the opposite. Affirmative action can help to level the playing field by ensuring all students—regardless of wealth, privilege, or background—have a chance to benefit from the advantages selective colleges provide.
As a result, low-income students and students of color increase their chances of emerging from poverty and stepping into the middle class. For decades, elite colleges and universities closed their doors to students of color. Although private colleges and universities are not subject to the same constitutional constraints as public institutions, affirmative action programs at private schools are just as susceptible to legal challenge on statutory grounds.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, private colleges and universities that receive federal funding are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Because the federal courts have ruled that Title VI forbids the same activities that are prohibited under the Constitution, affirmative action programs at private institutions must therefore meet the same legal standards that apply to public schools. In , the advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions filed several affirmative action suits in federal court.
The same group has also filed a statutory and constitutional challenge against the University of North Carolina, and has sued the Department of Education for its failure to release records related to a similar investigation at Princeton University. A federal appellate court affirmed the district court's ruling the following year, finding that the university's policy is consistent with Supreme Court precedent.
Students for Fair Admissions is expected to appeal the ruling, potentially setting up a showdown over affirmative action at the Supreme Court. Although the Trump Administration filed a brief in support of Students for Fair Admissions, the Biden Administration is likely to support Harvard as litigation in the case continues. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out.
US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Aria Bendix. Some US colleges are accepting a higher share of their male applicants than their female applicants. That's because more girls apply, but schools want to keep the ratio somewhat even in the student body.
Researchers say this is a form of affirmative action, and it's a sign of bigger problems in the education system. Get a daily selection of our top stories based on your reading preferences.
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