Blacks in College: Trend Reverses

There are few statistics more devastating than one offered by the California Achievement Council: A black male child who was born in California in 1988 is three times as likely to be murdered as he is to be admitted to the University of California. That’s why any encouraging news about education opportunities for African Americans is welcome.

U.S. Department of Education statistics released last month show that black enrollment in colleges and universities reversed a downward trend and began to climb during the late 1980s, according to recent news reports. But before anyone takes the figures as an endorsement of the previous Administration’s laissez-faire attitude toward public education, there are a couple of important caveats. First, the most significant enrollment surge is in private colleges. Black enrollment jumped 7% at private institutions, but increased only .2% at public colleges and universities. Nearly four out of five African Americans who go to college attend publicly funded institutions. The other caveat is that while the numbers of black women attending college rose by 41,000 from 1986 to 1988, the numbers of black men increased only 7,000. Only at historically black colleges were percentage increases for men and women about the same.

What do all these statistics mean? They tell us that diligent efforts by some universities to attract black students are beginning to provide some opening in the economic, social and cultural wall that has shut many blacks out of higher education. They tell of successful recruitment and retention methods that schools that have been unable to attract many black students should emulate--locally, for example, the University of Southern California, where black enrollment figures have dipped precipitously in recent years.

The UC system, by the way, would no doubt very much like to make obsolete the easier-murdered-than-admitted-to-UC statistic for black males. A university task force has made several recommendations to UC regents that could help improve the higher-education chances for black high school graduates nationwide. The blip of good news from the U.S. Department of Education is no reason to ease efforts now.