by: Aric Fulton
The Education Trust recently released a report entitled ‘Segregation Forever’?: The Continued Underrepresentation of Black and Latino Undergraduates at the Nation’s 101 Most Selective Public Colleges and Universities that examined the exclusion of Black and Latino students from the 101 most selective public institutions in the nation.
Each of the 101 institutions in the report were given a set of scores and assigned a letter grade for how well their institutions reflected the state’s racial and ethnic demography. Scores of 90 or higher received As. Scores in the 80s, 70s, and 60s earned Bs, Cs, and Ds respectively. Scores below 60 received failing grades (Fs).
The report’s findings include:
- In 2000, Black and Latino students were underrepresented at the 101 most selective public colleges and universities.
- In terms of Black student access, two out of three institutions received failing grades, another 5% received D grades, 12% earned C grades, and 5% earned B grades. Only 14% of these selective public institutions received A grades.
- In terms of Latino student access, three out of four institutions received a grade of F, 7% earned D grades, and 1% received Bs. Only 8% of these institutions earned an A.
- While the percentage of Black residents increased in almost every state between 2000 and 2017, selective public colleges and universities largely remained inaccessible to this population.
- Compared to the year 2000, a greater percentage of these institutions received a failing grade for racial and ethnic diversity and a smaller percentage received an A in 2017
- 75% of colleges in the report received an F while only 9% received an A.
- Institutions in states with larger Black populations were the least accessible.
- Nearly all of the 32 institutions in the 14 Southern states, which account for over half of the nation’s Black population, received failing grades in 2017.
- 30% of institutions did increase their percentage of Black students between 2000 and 2017 but failed to keep up with state population increases.
- Compared to the year 2000, a greater percentage of these institutions received a failing grade for racial and ethnic diversity and a smaller percentage received an A in 2017
- Between 2000 and 2017, the percentage of Latino residents increased in all states and every institution in the study increased their percentage of Latino enrollment.
- The percentage of Latino enrollment at one-third of institutions surpassed the percentage of Latinos in their state populations.
- Still, nearly half of the institutions received an F for their Latino representation in 2017 and just 1 out of 7 (14%) received an A.
- The institutions in the nine states with 75% of the nation’s Latino population were — on average — less accessible. 73% of those institutions received Ds and Fs.
