A recent survey from the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
found that UCLA has a lower acceptance rate for black applicants
than its overall acceptance rate, putting it further down on the
list than the majority of 30 top public and private universities
that were analyzed.
According to the survey, released earlier this week,
UCLA’s black student enrollment has increased by 9.6 percent
between 2004 and 2005, which translates to 11 more students
enrolled in the incoming 2005 freshman class than in 2004.
Black students make up 2.7 percent of the incoming class in
2005.
The percentage of black applicants who were accepted ““
15.2 percent ““ was far below the overall acceptance rate,
which is 27.1 percent for fall 2005, according to the survey.
The survey compared six public universities and 24 private
universities, including five in California, and found that six of
these universities have lower-than-average acceptance rates for
blacks.
These schools include UCLA, UC Berkeley, the University of
Southern California and the California Institute of Technology.
Though the UCLA administration recognizes that black acceptance
rates are a problem, little can be done to balance acceptance rates
because of Proposition 209, said Vu Tran, director of undergraduate
admissions and relations with schools for UCLA.
Proposition 209, passed by voters in 1996, prohibits the use of
race or ethnicity as a factor in hiring or admissions in all public
institutions in California, including public universities such as
the UC.
The UC system uses a comprehensive admissions policy that takes
into account the applicant’s ability to overcome life
challenges, which includes information about parents’
educational levels and socioeconomic backgrounds, Tran said. He
said the goal of comprehensive review is to admit talented students
from diverse backgrounds.
According to the survey, one of the schools with the highest
black acceptance rates is the University of Virginia, which
accepted 58 percent of the black students who applied, compared to
an overall acceptance rate of 37.1 percent.
The survey cites the University of Virginia’s aggressive
use of affirmative action as the primary reason for the higher
numbers.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, though ranked lower
in the survey because of a drop in black enrollment, has a 31.5
black acceptance rate compared to an overall average of 14.3.
California’s public schools accept far fewer black
students than these comparable institutions, which is a concern for
many in the UC and black communities.
“The fact that there are fewer black students at Berkeley
and UCLA is unfortunate for the black people,” and acceptance
rates have been down since the passage of Proposition 209, said
Robert Slater, managing editor of the Journal of Blacks in Higher
Education.
“Altogether we’ve seen black enrollments increase;
generally the trend is up and that is a good thing,” he
said.
Some private schools in the state also showed similar
discrepancies in admissions to UC campuses in the study.
For example, Cal Tech enrolled one black student in the 2004
freshman class, and USC’s black acceptance rate was nearly 10
percent lower than its overall rate, according to the survey.
These numbers serve to underline the fact that Proposition 209
is not the problem because it does not apply to these private
universities, said Ward Connerly, a former UC regent who was
influential in the passage of the proposition and is a staunch
opponent of affirmative action.
Some say the comprehensive review policy is not enough to solve
the discrepancy in acceptance rates.
“UCLA could tune the applications better to make it easier
for minority students to apply, and recruit more efficiently to
diverse high schools so the candidate pool is bigger and
better,” said Jody Kreiman, chairwoman of the Committee on
Diversity and Equal Opportunity for the UCLA Academic Senate.
Though Proposition 209 is one reason behind the disparities in
acceptance rates, there are several other factors that are part of
the problem as well, such as insufficient outreach programs,
Kreiman said.
But others say UC admissions officials should look at the root
of the problem for blacks pursuing higher education, rather than
scapegoating Proposition 209.
“The problem isn’t 209, it’s the academic gap
““ the fact that there is a gap of major proportions in SAT
scores and grades (in black students),” Connerly said.
“The people who keep pointing at 209 need to get off their
rears and start fixing that academic gap.”
The responsibility to fix acceptance rates isn’t just with
the universities; it is also with potential students and their
families, Connerly said.
Black families need to understand that students need to become
more competitive in order to be admitted under Proposition 209
because universities can no longer look at race as a factor,
Connerly said.
Though many disagree on a method to increase black acceptance
rates, “if we can open a constructive dialogue to talk about
these issues all students will be better served,” Kreiman
said.