Declining Minority Admissions Rate at UC Is Criticized

A report by a think tank specializing in Latino issues has strongly criticized the University of California for the declining percentages of African American and Latino students admitted to its campuses this year, saying the university risks stratifying its campuses along racial lines.

The report released Tuesday by USC’s Tomas Rivera Policy Institute focused on the lower acceptance rates for African American and Latino applicants to UC since California voters banned the consideration of race in admissions decisions at public institutions in 1996.

Institute President Harry Pachon urged UC officials to redouble their efforts to increase minority representation and to make admissions policies more understandable to the public. He also called on state legislators to increase funding for the university’s outreach programs.

The institute calculated what it called “aggregated campus acceptance rates,” showing that the percentage of Latino applicants accepted at UC campuses dropped from 68% in 1995 to 45% in 2003. For African American students, the rate fell from 58% in 1995 to 35% in 2003. The declines were most precipitous at UC’s most competitive campuses, Berkeley and Los Angeles, the report showed.

UC officials had expressed concern about the lower percentages of black and Latino students admitted this fall, and a spokeswoman echoed that sentiment Tuesday.

However, UC spokeswoman Ravi Poorsina said the report’s methodology exaggerated the scope of the problem.

UC’s admissions reports count each applicant once, regardless of how many campuses the student applied to.

Under the institute’s formula, a student who applied to four campuses was counted four times, and that tended to lower the acceptance rates. Pachon said he considered it a fairer way to look at the issue.