UC Regents’ Decision Threatens Diversity, Report Finds

The removal of racial preferences from admissions at the University of California will probably result in a less diverse student body, even if the selection process is improved, according to a new report made public Wednesday.

The report, commissioned by UC’s president and completed by a task force of administrators and faculty, concluded that while the selection process can be improved, “it seems unlikely that these new approaches will yield the same level of racial and ethnic diversity as current criteria are able to achieve.”

The report outlines several ideas to make the admissions process more sensitive to individuals’ accomplishments and backgrounds, including developing ways of assessing academic performance that rely less on grade-point averages and standardized test scores.

But the report concludes that the most that can be expected of these efforts “is that adverse consequences for racial and ethnic diversity may be minimized.”

In July, the UC Board of Regents voted to end the explicit use of race, ethnicity, religion, gender or national origin as criteria for admission to the nine-campus institution. That resolution, which takes effect Jan. 1, 1997, also called for no less than 50% and no more than 75% of the student body on any campus to be selected solely on the basis of academic achievement.

At the same time, the regents reaffirmed their long-standing commitment to assembling a student body at UC that reflected the cultural and ethnic diversity of the state of California.

The task force report, which will be submitted to the regents in February, found that the biggest obstacle to that diversity is that black and Latino students qualify for admission to UC at rates that are far lower than the state average.

Improving those eligibility rates, the task force warned, is the key to creating a truly diverse student body and will require a coordinated effort that is not yet being undertaken.

“Unless there is a major commitment by the K-12 sector, state and local leaders and post-secondary education together to eliminate these differences in achievement of underrepresented students, participation of these students in the university will remain modest at best,” the report warned.

In the wake of the regents’ decision, many have suggested strategies to achieve the diversity the regents say they desire, and the task force analyzed several. One idea is to change UC eligibility guidelines--which now require applicants to be in the top 12.5% of the state’s graduating high school students--to admit those who are in the top 12.5% of their particular high schools.

But the task force found that this tactic would have only marginal impact on the racial diversity of the undergraduate eligibility pool.

Another idea was to use a lottery to admit the portion of students who are not selected on academics alone. But here, too, the task force found that process “would yield an admit pool that is both less diverse and less well-prepared academically.”

An idea being developed at UCLA got among the best reviews. UCLA has sought to identify neighborhoods across the state where students who apply to UC routinely rank among the very poorest prepared academically. These students, UCLA suggests, have probably not had access to excellent educational resources, and thus can be assumed to have untapped potential.

UCLA is currently analyzing how to use its so-called opportunity to learn index to improve the analysis of students’ applications to better determine individuals’ potential for success. The report labeled this method a “possible tool for minimizing adverse effects upon diversity.”