Making Higher Education Work in a Majority-Minority Nation
By Allie Bidwell, Communications Staff
Despite the increasing importance of receiving a college education, many students are at a disadvantage due to racial and ethnic barriers that make it difficult to obtain an accessible, affordable, and quality education, according to a new report from Young Invincibles. These disparities still exist at a time when people of color are becoming a larger proportion of the college-going population.
The report examines the racial and ethnic barriers in three areas – access and affordability, attainment and success, and repayment and other outcomes measures – and makes federal policy recommendations aimed at closing the gap. The report highlights systemic barriers – uneven access to resources, or discrimination – as well as those tied to more widespread problems, such as a lack of information about applying for financial aid.
“In addition to the moral imperative, the country cannot resolve its desire to remain a global powerhouse without strategies to ensure that people from communities of color are upwardly mobile and have a real shot at the American Dream,” the report said. “We know that education alone won’t fix inequality or close gaps, but increased education attainment for communities of color can improve income and economic security.”
When it comes to college access and affordability, the report said, access has generally improved over time, access to more selective or high-quality institutions still falls along racial and ethnic lines. African-American and Hispanic/Latino high school graduates overall today enroll in college at similar rates to white graduates, but there are disparities between types of high schools. Those with higher concentrations of minority students are less likely to enroll in college the fall after graduating high school, and significantly less likely to graduate college within six years, the report said.
Additionally, African-American and Hispanic/Latino graduates are more likely to enroll in different levels and types of schools – such as two-year institutions or for-profit colleges – than their white peers. In 2015, African-American students made up 14 percent of college students, but 30 percent of those at for-profit colleges. White students, on the other hand, made up 56 percent of all college students, and 38 percent of for-profit college students. Young Invincibles in the report suggests strengthening the federal gainful employment rule, and at a minimum not rolling back the regulation. The group also suggests incorporating new measures disaggregated by race and ethnicity in the College Scorecard, and improving transfer policies.
The report also argues that students of color have fewer resources to pay for college, and that financial aid doesn’t always bridge the gap. African-American and Hispanic/Latino students more often come from families with lower incomes, the report said, and are less likely to get financial help from family or friends. And while white families typically spend more on college – in terms of an annual student budget – the annual college costs make up a smaller percentage of their family income. On average, annual college costs take up 44 percent of a white household’s income, 53 percent of a Hispanic/Latino household’s income, and 63 percent of an African-American household’s income, the report said. After grants are taken into account, annual college costs still take up 48 percent of an African-American household’s income, and 31 percent of a Hispanic/Latino household’s income, compared with 24 percent of a white household’s income.
To address these disparities, Young Invincibles suggests boosting the purchasing power of the Pell Grant to cover a larger portion of college cost, redesigning the Federal Work-Study Program to grant larger awards to institutions that serve and graduate more Pell-eligible students, continuing Second Chance Pell for incarcerated students, and exploring “education and workforce protections” for DACA-eligible and current DACA recipients.
Finally, the report specifically targets issues surrounding the federal financial aid application process. In 2011-12, 10 percent of African-American students and 17 percent of Hispanic/Latino students who would have qualified for a Pell Grant did not submit a FAFSA, the report found. Those students were more likely to report that they thought they were ineligible for financial aid, and many said they did not fill out a FAFSA due to the complexity of the form or a lack of information. Young Invincibles suggests targeting and expanding FAFSA outreach to communities of color, simplifying the FAFSA, and reviewing financial aid eligibility for drug convictions – examining “whether this question and its intended impact are appropriate in light of its disparate impact on communities of color.”
“We’re on track to be a majority-minority nation in our lifetime, yet right now our higher education system is leaving behind the very people our nation’s economy will soon rely on to lead us into the future,” said Christopher Nellum, policy director for Young Invincibles, in a statement. “Insufficient public policy and institutional practices are failing to level the playing field for young people of color. We need interventions and solutions that will close racial opportunity gaps, in turn providing better income and financial stability for young people of color and our nation’s economy.”
Publication Date: 3/6/2017
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