The vast majority of Black and Latino students in California are being subjected to a “segregated” community college system where very few transfer to four-year institutions, researchers charged Tuesday as they released three reports that shine light on the problem.
The entire system needs to be revamped, the researchers at UCLA’s Civil Rights Project said, and new policies must be crafted that will lead to greater ethnic and racial parity.
“Higher education (in California) needs to be re-examined and changed at each level of the process,” said Dr. Gary Orfield, professor in the Graduate School of Education, co-director of The Civil Rights Project at UCLA and a co-author of one of the reports. “We need to think very consciously about racial equality in making policies.”
Orfield is co-author of “Building Pathways to Transfer: Community Colleges that Break the Chain of Failure for Students of Color,” one of three studies The Civil Rights Project released Tuesday to call for changes in California’s community college system.
The other two reports are “Unrealized Promises: Unequal Access, Affordability, and Excellence at Community Colleges in Southern California” and “Beyond the Master Plan: The Case for Restructuring Baccalaureate Education in California.”
The reports were released as the state continues efforts already in place to improve outcomes for community college students.
For instance, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors recently approved a 22-recommendation report titled “Advancing Student Success in California Community Colleges.”
