By JEREMY ASHKENAS, HAEYOUN PARK and ADAM PEARCE,
New York Times, AUG. 24, 2017
[original article contains numerous charts as well as links]
image from
Even after decades of affirmative action, black and Hispanic
students are more underrepresented at the nation’s top
colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago,
according to a New York Times analysis.
The share of black freshmen at elite schools is virtually
unchanged since 1980. Black students are just 6 percent of
freshmen but 15 percent of college-age Americans . [...]
The Times analysis includes 100 schools ranging from public
flagship universities to the Ivy League. For both blacks and
Hispanics, the trend extends back to at least 1980, the earliest
year that fall enrollment data was available from the National
Center for Education Statistics.
Blacks and Hispanics have gained ground at less selective
colleges and universities but not at the highly selective
institutions, said Terry Hartle, a senior vice president at the
American Council on Education, which represents more than
1,700 colleges and universities.
The courts have ruled that colleges and universities can
consider race or ethnicity “as one element in a holistic
admissions policy, so it’s something that can be considered,
but it’s not a magic bullet,” he said.
Affirmative action increases the numbers of black and Hispanic
students at many colleges and universities, but experts say
that persistent underrepresentation often stems from equity
issues that begin earlier.
Elementary and secondary schools with large numbers of black
and Hispanic students are less likely to have experienced
teachers, advanced courses, high-quality instructional
materials and adequate facilities, according to the United
States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
“There’s such a distinct disadvantage to begin with,” said David
Hawkins, an executive director at the National Association for
College Admission Counseling. “A cascading set of obstacles all
seem to contribute to a diminished representation of minority
students in highly selective colleges.”
Black students make up 9 percent of the freshmen at Ivy
League schools but 15 percent of college-age Americans,
roughly the same gap as in 1980. (A category for multiracial
students, introduced in 2008, has slightly reduced the share of
black students.)
At all eight schools, white enrollment declined as Asian
enrollment increased. In recent years, the growth of Asian
enrollment has slowed at some schools, and some Asian-American
students say they are being held to a higher standard.
The number of Hispanic and black freshmen on the University
of California campuses declined immediately after California’s
affirmative action ban took effect, especially at the most
sought-after campuses, said Stephen Handel, associate vice
president for undergraduate admissions. The system put the
ban in place in 1998.
Even now, both Hispanics and blacks are least represented at
Berkeley, the most selective campus. On seven campuses,
Hispanics now make up a quarter or more of the freshmen, but
that’s still far below their share of the college-age population in
the state, which is close to 50 percent.
“Despite the progress the U.C. has made in assembling a more
diverse student body, a lot of work remains to be done so that
all U.C. campuses reflect the true diversity of the state,” Mr.
Handel said in an email.
Blacks and Hispanics remain underrepresented at other top
universities, even as the share of white students at many of
these schools has dropped, in some cases below 50 percent.
The largest growth has often been among Asian students.
For example, the share of white freshmen at Rice University in
Houston, which was exclusively white until the mid-1960s,
declined to 42 percent in 2015 from 87 percent in 1980.
Meanwhile, the share of Asian students rose to 30 percent in
2015 from 3 percent in 1980.
Black students remain underrepresented in a number of
flagships in states with a large share of college-age residents
who are black.
For example, in Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and South
Carolina, blacks represent about a third or more of each state’s
college-age population but less than 15 percent of the
freshman enrollment at the flagship university.
At the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus, black
freshman enrollment has declined significantly over the last 15
years. Students on campus have protested racial inequalities.
Many public flagship universities draw students from the state
or region, rather than the entire country. While black
enrollment at schools like West Virginia University and the
University of Nebraska is low, it is on par with the state’s
demographics.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data
System; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
socialexplorer.com; U.S. News & World Report 2017
Best Colleges Rankings; The College Board; The Century
Foundation; David Hawkins, National Association for
College Admission Counseling; Ozan Jaquette, University
of California, Los Angeles; Daniel Hirschman, Brown University
Notes: Data in charts are for undergraduates enrolled in the fall
for the first time at four-year universities that grant degrees. From
1980 to 1993, data for students whose race or ethnicity was
unknown has been redistributed across other groups.
Students whose race is unknown and international students are
excluded from totals. The multiracial category, which was introduced
in 2008, and the Native American category are shown when either
group is ever above 5 percent of total enrollment.
Enrollment for each racial and ethnic group is reported by the
schools, and may be incorrect or not add up to 100 percent. Years
in which the total of the groups enrolled was less than 90 percent
or more than 110 percent are excluded from the charts. Years in
which any single group exceeded 100 percent are also excluded.
Population data for 1990 to 2015 are for 18-year-olds. Population
data for 1980 is for 17- to 21-year-olds with high school degrees.
The population and enrollment data do not consistently count
multiracial or Native American students. To account for this,
the percentages on the gap charts use only Asian, black, Hispanic
and white counts in the denominator.
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