This report examines how the California's 2.16 million Black residents (6 percent of total population) are faring in higher education attainment compared with other racial/ethnic groups. While Black Californians have improved their education outcomes over the last couple of decades, they still experience significant opporunity gaps. The report calls for a concerted, strategic effort to produce better educational outcomes for Black students including a new statewide plan for California higher education, a redesign of pre-college level courses, re-enrollment of adults with some college but no degree, and allowing public universities to use race/ethnicity as one of many considerations in their admissions process.
- Only 23 percent of working-age Blacks in California have bachelor's degrees, compared to 42 percent of their White counterparts.
- One-third of Black adults aged 25-64 attended college but earned no degree.
- Black undergraduates are underrepresented at four-year public and private, nonprofit universities and overrepresented at California Community Colleges and For-Profit colleges.
- Only 37 percent of Black students who started at the California State University system as freshman will complete after six years.
- At least 2/3 of Black applicants were denied admission to six of the University of California's nine undergraduate campuses.
Published by
- Campaign for College Opportunity