Blacks on Campus

Black enrollment in the nation’s colleges and universities peaked in 1980 and continues to decline. But the rate of decline masks two other distressing trends: reductions not only in absolute numbers of black male students but also in the ratio of black men to black women on campus. Black women now outnumber black men by three to one on some campuses, one of them being Princeton. Left unchecked, the drift could have ominous economic and social consequences.

Statistics from just two freshman classes pretty much tell the story, as related last month by the Office of Minority Concerns of the American Council of Education. Twenty years ago 63 black students entered Harvard as freshmen. Of those, 51 were men and 12 were women. Last September 138 black students were enrolled--48 men and 90 women. The total in 20 years more than doubled, but the number of black males declined. As an average of all American campuses, 60% of black college students are women.

Contrary to the national trend, black enrollment at UC Berkeley, UCLA and Stanford is rising, but the ratio of black women to black men on the UC campuses is about the same as the national average, and the men are losing ground. Black enrollment at the USC is down, with women representing 55% of the total. The gap is even wider at several historically black colleges. Women outnumber men by 2 to 1 at Virginia’s Hampton Institute, and by 5 to 1 in last year’s freshman class at Georgia’s Clark College.

Colleges aggressively recruited blacks in the 1960s, especially after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited federal funding for colleges that discriminated. Grant, work-study and tuition-loan programs enacted during the Johnson Administration put college within reach of more working-class and impoverished black students. A particularly important program was Upward Bound, a campus-based program to smooth the transition for black students from high school to college.

The decline can be traced, at least in part, to changes in education priorities during the Reagan Administration. Financial aid did not keep pace with the soaring costs of college. The federal emphasis shifted from grants to loans. Work-study funds were cut by 22%. College drifted back out of reach for many high-school graduates.

The changes hit black students hardest because they were, and are, disproportionately poor. But other factors help account for the fall in the percentage of black males on campus. One factor is the growing number of black families that are headed by young, impoverished, semi-literate single women, poor role models for daughters and no model at all for sons. Nor do boys often find role models in elementary school. Stymied by stereotypes and lowered expectations, too many grow up expecting not much more from life than the immediate gratification of a minimum-wage job or a stint in the military and the allure of quick profits from crime. In that hard and narrow world, there are few routes to college.

More black men could beat those odds if the opportunities for success were bolstered in the early grades before they dropped out of school and were lost forever. Businesses and governments should help them beat the odds by supporting after-school efforts, neighborhood tutoring and church programs. Local celebrities and professionals can and should get involved in programs that help reward academic progress.

Black students who are capable of college work should have every opportunity to get on campus and stay there. At predominantly white campuses, college presidents must work harder to eliminate racial tensions. Jacqueline Fleming, author of the landmark study, “Blacks in College,” told the magazine Black Issues in Higher Education: “There is a 50-50 chance that black students in college anywhere will encounter personally threatening difficulties, including physical threats as well as covert hostilities.” There is an even greater chance that black students will be shut out of most leadership posts and extracurricular activities. The campus climate must become less hostile if black students are to persevere successfully.

Twenty-five years after equal opportunity became more than a slogan, black Americans are the only group that is losing ground in higher education. If the decline continues, the disparities will widen and more black men will become unproductive burdens on the nation. If President Bush is to live up to his chosen sobriquet as the Education President, he will have to help provide real and broad opportunities for black students at American colleges.