Widening racial and ethnic gap in admissions and graduation

A new study shows that the racial gap in California academic institutions continues to widen:

A report by the Public Policy Institute of California found that the gap in college graduation and admissions rates between Latinos and blacks on one hand and white and Asian Americans on the other is widening, reports The San Jose Mercury News.

The study used 2000 Census data and found that only 13 percent of Hispanics and 15 percent of blacks had earned a bachelor’s degree, compared with 31 percent of whites and 62 percent of Asians. In addition, 6.2 percent of black high school seniors and 6.5 percent of Hispanic seniors met the minimum UC eligibility standards in 2002-03, compared with 16.2 percent of whites and 31.4 percent of Asians. Hispanics make up one-third of the state’s high school graduates but only 12 percent of UC graduates. Blacks make up 7 percent of high school graduates but only 3 percent of UC graduates.

Deborah, Reed, the author of the study, noted factors behind the gap, including family disadvantages among black and Hispanic students. These students, she said, are less likely to live with both parents, and their mothers are less likely to have graduated from high school. In addition, their families are more likely to have an income below the poverty line. Reed also noted that black and Hispanic children are more likely to attend under-achieving and overcrowded schools. In addition, more than 50 percent of Hispanics and 43 percent of blacks do poorly on state achievement tests, compared with 11 percent of white students and 16 percent of Asian-American students.

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