TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/082189/08218900.045

Text File | 1990-09-19 | 5KB | 92 lines

EDUCATION, Page 64

The Search For Minorities

Despite increased wooing, few go on to college


    At the top of just about every college president's "to do" list
these days is a resolve to recruit more minorities. Although a
growing percentage of black students are finishing high school,
black attendance in college is dropping. In 1985 only 26% of black
high school graduates went on to college, down from 34% in 1976,
a year when the figure was slightly above that of whites. While
minority college enrollment expanded slightly between 1980 and
1986, the gain was mostly because of increased numbers of Asians
and Hispanics, not blacks.

    These bleak statistics persist despite several decades of
intense effort to attract and retain minority students. According
to a study released last month by the American Council on
Education, 8 out of 10 colleges and universities report either "a
lot" or "some" activity aimed at boosting minority undergraduate
enrollment on their campuses. At the same time, 60% give themselves
only "fair" or "poor" success ratings in attracting black students;
two-thirds give equally low grades for Hispanic recruitment.

    One reason for the desultory pace is that many public schools
are failing to meet the needs of minority students well before they
reach high school graduation, leaving them academically unprepared
for college-level work. Also, some 38 states have toughened
admissions standards for public universities, raising the hurdle
that minorities must surmount to get in.

    In poor inner-city neighborhoods, family patterns and cultural
barriers often make it difficult for minority students to view
college as an option. Moreover, many potential applicants are
frightened away by soaring college costs. Federal aid, which has
shifted from grants to loans, has disproportionately affected
minorities, many of whom are unable to make the financial
commitment to borrow large sums for education.

    Those minority students who do arrive on campus feel isolated.
A resurgence of bigotry has caused many to drop out. Last summer,
for example, arsonists at the University of Mississippi torched
the school's first on-campus black fraternity house; last spring
four black women at Smith College received racist notes. In the
face of such hostility, the inducements to enroll -- scholarships,
minority-student organizations -- seem pale. "Overt racial
incidents can have a real psychological effect, even if they don't
happen to you," says John Jackson, 23, a black at the University
of Texas at Austin.

    Although colleges in general have a lackluster record of
attracting and holding minorities, a number of programs are
starting to chip away at the problem. In some areas, college-public
school partnerships seek to get minority students thinking about
higher education at an early age and to nurture that goal through
high school. "Once kids have the fever for college, you can do a
lot of good," says Nathan Potts, principal of West Side High School
in Newark, which was "adopted" by Ramapo College of New Jersey in
1985.

    Many programs court only the academically gifted, but there
are exceptions. Last month Connecticut College launched a program
aimed at tenth-graders who rank in the top 30% of their class but
fall short of the top 10%.

    "Nobody is telling us to target only the top 10% of white
students," explains Claire Gaudiani, the school's president. Public
school teachers select the students and accompany them to the
campus for two weeks of classes and counseling. In order to
maintain the students' interest in college, professors and minority
alumni will correspond with them throughout high school and hold
twice-yearly "reunions."

    Since 1984, Arizona State University has run an innovative
program to recruit Hispanic women. Several times a year, Hispanic
mothers and their daughters, ranging in age from 13 to 18, come to
campus to take classes together. Although the purpose is to make
parents advocates of college for their girls, 30% of the 234
mothers have been sufficiently inspired to continue their own
educations. "Hispanic family values encourage females to get
married and stay home," says A.S.U. sophomore Sonia Torres, 18. "I
probably would not have gone to a four-year college without the
program."

    Although such efforts hold out hope for improvement, much more
needs to be done. By the year 2020, 35% of the American population
will be minority, with blacks and Hispanics making up the largest
portion. For society's sake as well as for their own survival,
colleges cannot afford to have more than a third of the nation view
them as inaccessible or inhospitable. Many of the current programs
seem to be on the right track, but they will take time to produce
results. "If higher education is interested in the harvesting of
minority students," says Judy Jackson Pitts, a former assistant
dean at Cornell, "we have to get in on the planting."