UC to Study Black Students’ Low Eligibility Rate
A University of California research program is being established to determine why the percentage of black high school graduates who meet UC eligibility requirements is so low, and what can be done to boost it.
UC President David Gardner announced the program at a regents meeting Friday. He cited a recent study by the California Postsecondary Education Commission that found that 3.6% of black high school graduates met UC eligibility requirements in 1983, compared to 13.2% of all public high school graduates.
“UC is especially well-qualified to take the lead in discovering and analyzing the causes of this problem, which is of enormous importance, not only to black youth and their families, but to our society generally,” Gardner said.
Although black student enrollment at UC has increased in recent years, bucking national trends, blacks make up only 4% of UC undergraduate enrollment.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
