Background: Decline in African American Admissions at UCLA
UCLA values diversity and is proud of its legacy of accomplished African American students and alumni, including Tom Bradley, Ralph J. Bunche and Jackie Robinson. A diverse environment enriches the student experience and advances UCLA's mission of educating young people in all segments of society.
UCLA is striving to meet competing mandates — restrictions
imposed by
Fundamentally, the current crisis in admissions and enrollment of African Americans has two main causes: the implementation of Proposition 209 in 1998 and the increase over time in the competitiveness of admissions, both in terms of astronomic growth in volume and the academic quality of applicants to UCLA.
Prior to the enactment of Proposition 209, which banned the
use of race, ethnicity and gender in admissions, UCLA was proud to have the
highest number of African American freshmen admitted in the
In November 2001, the UC Regents adopted the comprehensive review admissions policy for freshman admissions, effective for fall 2002. The policy was designed to provide equitable treatment of all students. Under the policy, UCLA, like other UC campuses, considers academics, personal achievements and life challenges in evaluating applicants.
Since the fall 2003 freshman class, the number of admits for African Americans has declined. The number of African American students indicating their intent to register also has decreased to a level that is viewed as a crisis by the university.
A related issue is that admission to UCLA has become increasingly competitive. For the 1995 fall freshman class, the admit rate was 41 percent overall. By fall 1999, the admit rate was 29 percent, and for fall 2006, the admit rate was 25 percent. This increasing competitiveness means that large numbers of UC-eligible students are denied admission to UCLA.
A bright spot is the number of African American transfer students for fall 2006. Transfer students make up nearly 40 percent of the undergraduate population. While transfer admits for African American students decreased following Proposition 209, the number of African American transfer admits for fall 2006 is 167, up from 130 last year. The number of African American students indicating their intent to enroll also increased.
The campus is reviewing its freshman admissions process, which it does annually. Admissions policy is set by the Academic Senate, and the UCLA faculty committee for admissions implements policies established by the UC systemwide faculty committee.
UCLA is engaging campus and community leaders in an ongoing dialogue to help ensure that UCLA and the broader community are doing everything possible within the law to ensure broad diversity and a fair process, and to explore the factors contributing to this alarming decline in African American freshman representation.
Current UCLA efforts to address the African American admissions crisis
-Peter Taylor, a former UC regent and former president of the UCLA Alumni Association, has convened the UCLA African American Alumni and Community Support Task Force. The goals of the task force are to:
-Provide ongoing advice and counsel to the UCLA chancellor, administration and Academic Senate regarding the concerns and perspectives of African American alumni, and civic and community leaders.
-Promote discussion on a consistent basis between campus leadership and the African American community on issues of common interest.
-Collaborate with UCLA administration and faculty to identify and implement measures, consistent with the law, to increase the number of African American students who apply to, are admitted to and enroll at UCLA.
-Make recommendations for ways in which the UCLA administration can best communicate to the African American community and to the larger public UCLA's ongoing commitment in philosophy and action to diversity, as well as the campus's African American tradition and heritage.
-An admissions work-group, appointed by the Academic Senate chair, was created this year.
-Campus faculty and student leaders are participating to address issues related to admission and enrollment of underrepresented students.
-Other work-group participants include representatives of the Academic Senate's faculty committee on undergraduate admissions and the undergraduate admissions office.
-A subcommittee of the Academic Senate's Committee on Undergraduate Relations and Admissions with Schools this summer is studying the admission selection criteria used at UCLA since the comprehensive review policy was adopted.
-The subcommittee currently is studying impact of selection criteria on the composition of admitted freshman cohorts.
-Subcommittee members are from the faculty committee on undergraduate admissions and the undergraduate admissions office.
Below are recent data and information on a variety of programs across campus that help prepare students for a UC education, provide scholarship support and encourage diversity.
Freshman data
Applications by African American students for the fall 2006 freshman class increased over the previous year, but there was a decline in both the number of African American students who were admitted and the number of those who have said they plan to enroll.
-The number of applications from African American prospective freshmen for fall 2006 was 2,166, up from 1,844 last year.
-The number of African American admits decreased in 2006; there were 244, compared with 280 the previous year. (For fall 2004, there were 234 admits.)
-The number of African American students who said they plan to enroll for fall 2006 was 96, compared with 125 the year before.
Prior to Proposition 209, when affirmative action was used as part of the admissions process, UCLA had the highest numbers of African American students admitted as freshmen in the system.
-Applications from African American prospective freshmen for fall 1995 were 1,450.
-The number of African American admits in 1995 was 693.
-The number of African American students expressing their intent to enroll in 1995 was 289.
Transfer data
For years, UCLA has had the highest number of transfer
students in the UC system, and among the highest in the country. Nearly 40
percent of new undergraduate students are transfer admits. The vast majority of
these transfer admits are from
degree. The transfer path also provides a way for students to meet UC admissions requirements and to transfer to UCLA or other UC campuses without a high school diploma or taking standardized tests such as the SAT.
The number of transfer students at UCLA has increased in the past decade. For fall 1995, UCLA enrolled 2,186 transfer students; 10 years later, in fall 2005, the campus enrolled 3,150.
The number of African American transfer applicants, transfer admits and those declaring their intent to enroll at UCLA for fall 2006 all increased over the previous year.
-The number of applications from African American prospective transfers for fall 2006 was 508, up from 472 last year.
-The number of African American admits for transfer students was 167, up from 130 the previous year.
-The number of African American transfer students indicating their intent to register this fall is 108, up from 86 students last year.
Academic preparation and other outreach programs
UCLA has participated in academic preparation and other outreach programs for more than 30 years. Academic preparation programs were developed in response to a UC study (prompted by underrepresented-student protests in the late 1960s) that reported that underrepresented students (Native American, African American, Chicano, Latino and low-income students) were not receiving college preparatory information early enough to prepare sufficiently to be eligible for admission to UC.
UC established the academic preparation programs, and the state funded the programs. However, in recent years, the state has cut outreach funding in half. While all campuses have had to cut programs because of the large state budget cuts, UCLA has maintained its funding levels for academic preparation programs over the past couple of years because then-Chancellor Albert Carnesale filled in the funding gap.
-UCLA continues to be a strong participant in the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP).
-EAOP operates in 92 schools in Los Angeles County — 60 high schools and 32 middle schools — to help prepare students for the opportunity to make college possible by working together with families, educators, schools and communities to promote and cultivate a college-going culture.
-UCLA students, under the Student Initiated Access Committee (SIAC), work with students in grades K–14 in educationally disadvantaged areas.
-UCLA students from SIAC projects provide weekly, ongoing services, including one-on-one peer advising, tutoring, skills-building and workshops.
-They also provide field trips, and parent dinners and workshops.
-Their projects also join with various student organizations to host large-scale -events promoting college, most of which take place annually.
-The Vice Provost Initiative for Pre-College Scholars, known as VIPS, is a partnership between UCLA and the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts to help prepare historically underrepresented students in grades 9–12 to become competitively eligible for admission to UCLA and to encourage pursuit of graduate and professional education.
-VIPS is focused on underserved students, including students from low-income and first-generation immigrant families, which includes underrepresented minorities.
-VIPS services include college preparatory workshops, a Buddy Day (high school students shadow UCLA students for a day), college advising, and career and major seminars.
-The
-The center works closely with community college administrators, faculty and staff to strengthen and diversify curriculum, create strong academic support programs, improve students' academic competitiveness for admission to the university and increase the diversity of UCLA's transfer-admit pool.
-Among the center's
programs is the East Los Angeles College Summer Immersion Program,
a collaboration between the Youth Opportunity Movement,
-The UCLA Anderson School of Management offers the Riordan Programs, which are pioneering, career-based outreach programs that motivate high school students, college students and recent college graduates from diverse backgrounds and underserved communities to consider and prepare for careers in management through education, mentorship and professional development.
-For undergraduates, the Riordan Scholars Program targets college-bound high school students in grades 10–12 who are interested in learning about business and developing leadership skills. Scholars attend eight monthly Saturday seminars at the Anderson School of Management.
-The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has the Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity, known as CEED, which is
committed to the development, recruitment and retention of underrepresented and disadvantaged students in the disciplines of engineering and computer science.
-Since 1997, CEED's K–12 programs have served nearly 70 teachers, more than 4,000 students and more than 600 parents from urban schools in both the Los Angeles and Inglewood school districts. K–12 efforts are designed to increase college-going rates for underrepresented youth and to increase the number of urban youths interested in and prepared for majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
-The Academic Advancement Program (AAP) holds yield events — AAP Freshmen Scholars Days — for a variety of admitted students, including African American admits, where AAP welcomes students and their families to campus in an effort to increase enrollment at UCLA.
-AAP also holds a scholars day for transfer students.
-UCLA collaborates with the community through the UCLA Urban Collaborative.
-UCLA collaborates with four parent groups — Advocates for African American Students, serving the San Fernando Valley; Council for African American Parents, serving the Pomona and Diamond Bar area; King-Drew Parent Association at the King-Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, serving the Lynwood and Watts area; and Young Black Scholars, serving Los Angeles County.
-UCLA's assists by providing training for the groups' academic advisers, having a UCLA admissions counselor make presentations at community sites about UCLA, giving information about financial aid and assisting them with holding events at UCLA.
-The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLArts) has the ArtsBridge program. Their primary activity is to develop creative partnerships in arts education that bridge UCLArts with artists, teachers and students in underperforming schools in Los Angeles.
-They also work closely with schools and school districts to envision and implement structural change in their arts education programming.
-They are working to link local community arts centers with their neighborhood schools to enrich youth arts programs in their area.
-They are offering their first summer scholarships to high school students in partner schools to attend the summer arts institute in design at UCLA, where students will participate in mentorship opportunities with local artists and work closely with UCLArts' ArtsBridge.
-BruinCorps is a UCLA Student Affairs program that works with schools in the community. Their partners are primarily Los Angeles Unified School District sites
and include early childhood centers, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, community-based organizations and the city of Los Angeles. They also have partnerships with the UCLA Community-Based Learning Program. BruinCorps provides tutoring and mentoring to children and youth in grades pre-K–12 at schools and community-based organizations in East, South, West and downtown Los Angeles.
-In addition, at high schools, middle schools and community-based organizations located in low-income areas, BruinCorps establishes and staffs college/career centers to support preparation for and admission to college, as well as to provide financial aid information.
-The UCLA School of Law also works with students from educationally disadvantaged communities. Student program participants are undergraduate and graduated students who have expressed an interest in law and whose experiences reflect limited familial exposure to post-collegiate education, career opportunities, mentoring and social-support systems.
-Many participants have overcome economic and/or educational hardships and challenges, or have come from or demonstrated leadership experience in economically or educationally underserved communities.
-The services the UCLA School of Law provides include advising prospective applicants on all aspects of the law school application process, exposing participants to legal education and the practice of law, mentoring and assisting individuals in developing a customized action plan, providing scholarships for LSAT prep courses, and presenting application and admissions information at workshops, information sessions and career panels.
-The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has a program working with disadvantaged and traditionally underrepresented pre-medical students and pre-dental students who show promise for medical and dental training and careers, and who indicate an interest in providing service in California Health Manpower Policy Commission-designated shortage areas.
-Students are exposed to the rigorous prerequisite basic-science review classes, hands-on clinical preceptorships in community and research settings, and admissions test preparation, conducted by medical and basic-science faculty or community practitioners. Students are mentored in small groups, led by current medical and dental students.
-The UCLA African Student Union hosts an annual education conference to promote and encourage student empowerment among youth of African descent in an effort to increase the number of African Americans at institutions of higher education, including UCLA.
-Elected officials have sent letters to African American admits urging them to enroll at UCLA.
-The UCLA athletic department sponsors an "I'm Going to College" program for mostly middle-school students that combines educational fairs and campus tours with attending UCLA athletic events.
Members of the UCLA African American Alumni and Community Support Task Force
Peter Taylor, former UC regent and former president of the UCLA Alumni Association, is chairman of the task force. The other members are: Walter R. Allen, UCLA professor of education; Richard Benbow, general manager, Los Angeles Community Development Department; Daron Campbell, RE/MAX Commercial Real Estate; Legrand Clegg, city attorney, city of Compton; Winston Doby, retired, UC vice president, Student Affairs; Bill Elkins, vice chairman, Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation; Terry Flennaugh, African Student Union; Franklin D. Gilliam Jr., UCLA associate vice chancellor, Community Partnerships; Barbara Gothard, vice president and general manager, Jackie Robinson Foundation; William Holland, vice president, workforce planning and analysis, Hilton Hotels Corp.; Darnell M. Hunt, director, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, and professor of sociology; John J. Hunter, senior minister, First A.M.E. Church; Karume James, African Student Union; Darryl Johnson, UCLA Foundation; Douglass Johnson, chair, African Student Union; Mandla Kayise, UCLA Black Alumni Association; Rev. Brenda Lamothe, First A.M.E. Church; Thomas E. Lifka, UCLA assistant vice chancellor, Student Academic Services; Lawrence Lokman, UCLA assistant vice chancellor, University Communications; Kerman Maddox, Dakota Communications; Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, UCLA vice chancellor, Graduate Division; Antoinette Mongelli, UCLA assistant chancellor; Janina Montero, UCLA vice chancellor, Student Affairs; Yolanda Nunn, Brilliance Strategies; Keith S. Parker, UCLA assistant vice chancellor, Government and Community Relations; Debbe Pounds, director, UCLA Early Academic Outreach Program; Constance L. Rice, co-director, Advancement Project Los Angeles; Blair Taylor, president and CEO, Los Angeles Urban League; Delvin Walker, 100 Black Men of Los Angeles; Geraldine R. Washington, president, Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP; Nichol Whiteman, director of marketing and strategic partnerships, Jackie Robinson Foundation; Richard A. Yarborough, interim director, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, and associate professor of English.
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