Minority College
Enrollment Rising
By MICHELLE LOCKE, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday April 4 12:46 AM ET
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Black and Hispanic admissions to the University of California continued to rise in the first year of a program guaranteeing slots to top high school graduates. Figures released Tuesday for the Fall 2001 freshman class show steady increases in black and Hispanic enrollment for the fourth year in a row.
Minority enrollment has now nearly rebounded from sharp drops following the end of affirmative action in California. Admissions of ``underrepresented'' minorities - blacks, Hispanics and American Indians - for the fall semester are up by about 17 percent, from 7,336 last year to 8,580. Underrepresented minorities are those whose numbers in college lag behind the general population. Those minorities make up 18.6 percent of in-state freshman admissions, compared to 18.8 percent in 1997, the last year race and gender were taken into account.
The figures show another trend as well: Fewer blacks and Hispanics are enrolling at the top campuses of Berkeley and UCLA but instead are attending lesser-known campuses. Berkeley, UC's flagship campus, admitted 293 black students, a 43 percent drop from the 1997 total of 515. UC-Riverside, meanwhile, admitted 567 blacks this fall, an 89 percent increase over the 1997 total of 300. ``We still have a serious problem at selective UC campuses,'' Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, an ex-officio regent, said in a statement.
But Regent Ward Connerly, who wrote UC's race-blind policies, saw the admissions figures as proving ``conclusively that the university is achieving an integrated student body without the use of preferences based on race or ethnicity.'' Although race can't be used as a factor, UC has implemented a number of other programs aimed at increasing minority enrollment.
One plan promises eligibility to students who finish in the top 4 percent of their class. UC reported that 96 percent of students eligible under that plan have been admitted to campuses of their choice. The remaining students will be offered slots elsewhere in the system. UC estimates the program had the greatest effect in rural areas, increasing applications by 11 percent.
At urban schools, applications increased nearly 6 percent. The program is believed to have increased applications from underrepresented minorities by 13.6 percent. No group held the majority in admissions, although whites were the largest contingent, at about 38 percent, followed by Asians at 34 percent. Blacks made up 3 percent of admissions and American Indians .05 percent.
Recent census data show the state is about 47 percent white, 32 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Asian, 7 percent black and 1 percent American Indian. Census figures show the Hispanic population in California grew 43 percent during the past decade and is projected to make up 33 percent of graduating high school seniors this year. Hispanics comprise nearly 15 percent of UC in-state freshman admissions this fall. Tuesday's figures were based on freshmen planning to attend the eight main undergraduate campuses in the UC system.
News and Announcements | AAD Home Page