More Evidence of the Devastating Impact of Proposition 209 on Black Opportunities for Higher Education in California

Each year, thousands of students who complete two-year associate’s degrees at California community colleges apply for admission to the University of California as junior transfer students. Systemwide in 2005 there were 20,339 graduates of California community colleges who applied for admission to one of the nine undergraduate campuses of the University of California. Of these, 80 percent were accepted for admission.

But for blacks the story is sharply different. There were 720 African-American transfer applicants in 2005. But only 483, or 67 percent, were accepted for admission. In fact, blacks were accepted at a lower rate than any other major ethnic group. Latino applicants were accepted at a rate identical to whites.

So for black transfer students, in common with black freshman applicants to the University of California, the lingering impact of the ban on race-sensitive admissions appears to have a severe negative effect on black enrollments.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.