While recent protests and national unease have shed a light on many aspects of systemic racism in the United States, there has been less scrutiny of how racism specifically limits educational opportunities at selective institutions for underrepresented minorities.
According to a new report from the Education Trust, access for Black and Latino students at the nation’s 101 most selective public colleges and universities has shown very little progress since 2000, and the overwhelming majority of the nation’s most selective public colleges are still inaccessible for these undergraduates.
The report examines how access to higher education has changed for Black and Latino students and whether these institutions are serving an undergraduate student body that represents the racial and ethnic diversity of their particular state’s population.
“Improving access for Black and Latino students at the 101 colleges and universities included in this report is a matter of will,” the report said. “With larger endowments and more funding, these institutions have the resources to do so, but their leaders must make a conscious commitment to increasing access. Policymakers can also help institutions become more accessible.”
Read the full report: ‘Segregation Forever’?: The Continued Underrepresentation of Black and Latino Undergraduates at the Nation’s 101 Most Selective Public Colleges and Universities.
Research Associate, Cameron Hair, welcomes additional comments and story ideas at chair@nacacnet.org.
