African American students’ college choice processes in a post 209 era

Abstract

High-achieving African American students in California are not attending University of California (UC) campuses. Due to hyper-implementations of Proposition 209, which limited UC campuses’ ability to use race as a significant admission criteria, the UC system and individual UC campus policies have scaled back their efforts to recruit high-achieving African American students from California. This article presents findings from the qualitative portion (n = 74) of a convergent mixed-method study of over 700 African American college-going students. Findings convey the critical role that access, outreach, diversity, and climate plays in the college choice process of African American high achievers. Drawing upon higher education and critical race literature, the findings further reveal the challenges and opportunities for states and elite universities in retaining its brightest students from diverse backgrounds. This research also conveys the potential of research to inform state, systemic, and institutional policies to increase access to selective public universities.

Key words:

• Postsecondary
• access
• equity

Note

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For Fall 2014, African American freshman admits for UCB and UCLA were 3.4% and 4.4%, respectively (UCOP, 2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Frances Contreras

Dr. Frances Contreras is an Associate Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Studies at UC San Diego. Her research focuses on issues of equity and access for underrepresented students in the education pipeline and the role of public policy in ensuring student equity across a P-20 continuum.

Thandeka K. Chapman

Dr. Thandeka K. Chapman's work focuses on schooling outcomes of desegregation policies in urban and suburban districts. Chapman conducts research with teachers and students in urban and racially diverse settings to examine and resolve the ways in which institutional racism is manifested in school climate, curriculum, adult and student relationships, and school policies.

Eddie Comeaux

Dr. Eddie Comeaux serves as associate professor of higher education in the Graduate School of Education. He maintains an active research agenda that examines the college student experience?with special attention on athletes and underrepresented students?and how those experiences influence their subsequent outcomes. Central to much of his work are issues of access and equity.

Gloria M. Rodriguez

Dr. Gloria M. Rodriguez's current research explores notions of educational investment that reflect efforts to build upon community strengths in order to address community needs within and beyond educational settings. Dr. Rodriguez also engages in research that focuses on the political economic conditions and educational trajectories of Chicana/o-Latina/o communities, other communities of color, and low-income populations in the U.S.

Eligio Martinez Jr.

Dr. Eligio Martinez, Jr. Dr. Martinez's research focuses on the intersection of race, class and gender for Chicano/Latino males throughout the educational pipeline. In particular, Dr. Martinez explores the middle school years and the stratification process that occurs during this stage that leaves many students ill-prepared to transition to high school and begin to prepare for college.

Malo Hutson

Dr. Malo Hutson is an Associate Professor in Urban Planning at Columbia GSAPP and Director of the school's Urban Community and Health Equity Lab. Professor Hutson's specific focus is on community development and urban equity, racial and ethnic inequalities and urban policy, as well as the built environment and health.