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Over 30 years later, minorities underrepresented at top US universities

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Minority representation in the nation’s top universities has declined in the last 35 years despite affirmative action, according to a New York Times analysis.

The analysis, published on Aug. 24, looked at the fall enrollment data spanning from 1980 to 2015 at 100 of the nation’s top schools. Those schools ranged from Ivy Leagues to public flagship universities — including UNC.

The data showed minorities are more underrepresented at elite schools than they were in 1980. Graphs for the 100 institutions that were studied mostly showed trends of either decline or stagnation in the percentage of college-aged minority students entering as first-years, even though minority students now make up a larger majority of college-aged demographics.

Despite making up 15 percent of college-aged Americans, the analysts found that black students were particularly underrepresented. According to the NYT analysis, black students consisted of just 6 percent of incoming freshmen at top schools in 2015. This percentage was almost unchanged from that of 1980.

Similarly, the analysis found the gap between college-aged Hispanic students and Hispanic students at top universities had widened since 1980. In 2015, Hispanic 18-year-olds made up 22 percent of college-aged Americans but made up only 13 percent of the year’s incoming first-year at elite schools. 

Erika Wilson, a UNC law professor, said she was not surprised by the trend, citing issues in educational systems that minority students face long before college.

“We’ve seen efforts at racial integration and desegregation sort of disintegrate in many ways,” Wilson said.

The report’s analysis of UNC's incoming first-year classes from 1980 to 2015 exhibited a decline in black incoming first-years, from 11 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2015. This rose to 11 percent with the incoming first-year class of fall 2016, according to UNC Admissions class profile.

The percentage of Hispanic first-years at UNC raised from zero percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2015, according to the NYT analysis.

In fall 2016, UNC had the second highest percentage of African-American students among the top 25 national public universities and had the highest percentage of American Indian students, according to the UNC Office of Undergraduate Admissions. 

According to data from UNC Admissions, the current first-year class has a higher percentage of enrolling students who identify as other than white than in 2007 or 1997. 

Wilson said she is a proud beneficiary of affirmative action herself, and that affirmative action has been effective in increasing access and opportunities for disadvantaged students who otherwise might be looked over to attend certain schools.

“I think while affirmative action has been effective in providing access, there’s still work to do,” said Wilson.

Steve Farmer, the vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions, said in an email that these declining trends at top universities can be improved by encouraging students early-on in education to start looking at college.

“It's important to strengthen the advising that students receive as they're deciding whether to attend college and where to go,” Farmer said.

Farmer said UNC Admissions has been trying to help address the trend for 10 years now through the Carolina College Advising Corps, which helps high school students in under-served areas search for, enroll in and succeed at colleges and universities.

"This year the Carolina Corps will be serving roughly 15,000 high school seniors across our state," Farmer said. "The vast majority of these students will identify as low-income, first-generation college, underrepresented minority or some combination of the three."

@emilykdavis1

state@dailytarheel.com

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