RAAE Abstract

Abstract

Racial Equity in College Participation:
African American Students in the United States

Review of African American Education, 1(1), 5-29

Donald E. Heller
Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
University of Michigan School of Education

©2000, Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute of the United Negro College Fund

In 1954, the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlawed de jure racial segregation in public education in the United States. Ten years later, Title VI of the Civil Rights Law of 1964 extended Brown to all of higher education by prohibiting institutions that discriminate on the basis of race from receiving federal funds. In the ensuing three decades some measures have been taken, with varying degrees of success, to ensure that students of all races would be afforded equal access to a postsecondary education in this country.

Even with the Brown decision and the passage of the Civil Rights Law, African Americans historically have enrolled in college at rates lower than white students. This study will analyze college participation trends over the last 20 years with a focus on the patterns of African American students, in order to address the issue of equity in higher education from a number of perspectives. Specifically, it addresses the following research questions:

How has the undergraduate college participation of African Americans changed over the last two decades:

This study will not examine in detail the reasons for differences in college participation rates, but rather, will focus on documenting these differences. The study begins with a brief overview of other literature on the topic of college participation rates, followed by an explanation of the data sources and methodology used in the study. The next three sections focus on the 20-year trends in: 1) college enrollment; 2) college participation rates; and 3) college-going patterns in different parts of the country. The final section summarizes the key findings from this study.