New research released Tuesday from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) found that “misguided admissions practices” and inequality in funding are splitting the public higher education system into two separate and unequal tracks.
The report, “Our Separate & Unequal Public Colleges: How Public Colleges Reinforce White Racial Privilege and Marginalize Black and Latino Students,” stated that the elite, public four-year colleges do not represent the populations they are supposed to serve, in part because of their reliance on standardized testing.
“Like many factors in college admissions, the argument favoring marginal differences in test scores is just another name for affirmative action for already-privileged Whites,” said Dr. Anthony P. Carnevale, director of CEW and lead author of the report. “There are far more Black and Latino students with the qualifications to attend selective colleges than ever get to attend one.”
According to the report, more than 340,000 Black and Latino high school students score above average on standardized college admission tests, but only 19 percent of those high-scoring students attend a selective public college, while 31 percent of White students who score above average on the SAT attend those colleges.
And when given the opportunity, the research indicates Black and Latino students succeed. “When given a chance to attend, Black and Latino students graduate from selective colleges at almost the same rate (81 percent) as White students (86 percent),” the Georgetown study stated.
Meanwhile, White students are overrepresented, making up 64 percent of freshmen enrolled at selective public colleges even though Whites comprise only 54 percent of the college-age population. Blacks are 15 percent of the college-age population but represent only 7 percent of freshmen at selective public colleges. Similarly, Latinos are 21 percent of the college-age population, but make up only 12 percent of freshmen at selective public colleges.
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