The baccalaureate degree attainment rates comparing African-American and White students in California fell by just one percentage point from an 18.7-point gap in 2000 to a 17.7-point gap in 2011. This achievement gap is one of several highlighted by a Los Angeles-based higher education advocacy group in a new report on Black student college completion and achievement.
On Thursday, the Campaign for College Opportunity (CCO) organization released “The State of Blacks in Higher Education in California: The Persistent Opportunity Gap” research report, which details the lack of noteworthy progress of Blacks in California higher education. “Across all three public sectors of higher education—the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California—Blacks have the lowest completion rates for both first-time freshmen and transfer students,” the report states.
“Our report did find that gaps between Blacks and other ethnic groups in college-going and attainment have unfortunately remained virtually unchanged for more than a decade,” CCO executive director Michele Siqueiros said Thursday during a webinar event. “In some cases, [gaps] have worsened.”
Noting that California’s total African-American population is the fifth largest among states in the U.S., Siqueiros noted that the state’s Black community is larger than that in a number of southern states, including Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Among the report’s findings, Blacks are more likely than any other group to go to college but not earn a degree. A smaller proportion of Black adults from age 25 to 34 have earned more postsecondary degrees than Blacks between the ages of 35 and 65. And, in 2012, more African-American students in California were enrolled in private, for-profit institutions than in the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems combined. In addition, prior to the state’s 1996 ban on race-conscious affirmative action, Blacks were admitted to the UC system at a rate of 75 percent, yet today the rate has fallen to 58 percent.
“This report gives policymakers a clear sense of the cumulative impact [the lack of support has] on African-Americans seeking college degrees in California,” CCO board member Marcus Allen said during the webinar.
