Eligibility Hinders
University Diversity
Proposed goals could be difficult to meet initially
TUCSON (By Inger Sandal, Arizona Daily Star)
June 4, 2007 —
Arizona's universities would have to boost enrollment and
graduation rates for most ethnic groups to meet new performance
measures that regents will consider for the first time this
fall.
But diversity on Arizona's campuses still won't mirror state
demographics — at least initially — because success would depend
on drawing more high school graduates who are eligible for
admission.
Only 44 percent of Arizona's Class of 2007 could have
academically entered one of the state's three public
universities last fall.
"I think all of education has a challenge to graduate more
qualified students from high school," Tucson Regent Jack Jewett
said. "Qualified high school graduates should reflect the
diversity of the state."
The state's public universities also must do a much better job
reaching out to potential college students and helping them earn
four-year degrees, he said.
The performance measures, which are still being developed, would
take effect as the state's public universities gain more control
over enrollment.
Starting in 2007, only students who graduate in the top 25
percent of their high school classes and have no academic
deficiencies will be assured admission. Currently, the top 50
percent are assured admission.
Regents last month asked the provosts at the three universities
to recommend goals by the time they meet in November. The
measures also will include the success of students who spend
their first two years at a community college and affordability
issues, such as how much debt students take on before
graduation.
The new goals wouldn't displace students in overrepresented
groups, said Tom Wickenden, the regents' associate executive
director.
University of Arizona leaders said diversity is one of many
factors likely to be considered as the school moves toward more
selective enrollment.
The regents would set the same goals for all student groups,
Wickenden said. Asian students and black students exceeded or
met the statewide average of eligible Arizona high school
graduates who enrolled in the state's universities last fall, at
71 percent and 48 percent respectively. Below that 48 percent
average were American Indian students, of which 47 percent of
the eligible students enrolled, white students at 46 percent,
and Hispanic students at 42 percent.
Wickenden said increasing the numbers of eligible students who
choose the UA, Arizona State University or Northern Arizona
University would be significant. For example, even if the
regents just set the current average as a goal, the system would
need to add 200 Hispanic students, Wickenden said.
The UA would have to increase its enrollment and graduation rate
of Hispanic students by nearly 80 percent to match the state's
population, according to the UA's Latino Policy Research
Initiative. Hispanics account for about 25 percent of the
state's population and about 14 percent of all UA's
undergraduates, or 19 percent of its resident undergraduates.
The UA has a goal of becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a
federal designation that means in part that at least 25 percent
of students are Hispanic.
UA leaders also have a goal of raising the school's overall
graduation rate — which hasn't budged from 55 percent for
several years — to 58 percent by 2009. Asian and white students
currently have graduation rates of 58.2 percent. Hispanics are
at 49.3 percent, black students at 38.8 percent and American
Indians at 26.3 percent.
UA President Peter Likins said he expects it will take time to
establish realistic system-wide goals. "We will set numeric
goals because the regents have asked us to do that," Likins said
Friday. "We're all going to have to learn as we go along,
because this is, for the Arizona universities, a new era in
enrollment management."
The regents have long tracked student performance but adopted a
more streamlined, easier-to-use system after giving the
universities more freedom to pursue diverging missions under the
Changing Directions initiative. That includes more authority to
control enrollment, said Likins, whose campus is developing a
more selective admissions process as it nears its 40,000-student
capacity.
The best way to increase the number of underrepresented students
is to reach out and make them feel welcome, said Cazandra
Zaragoza, 20, a UA junior studying physiology.
"You need to go to the high schools — and all of the high
schools, not just the schools on the North Side," she said.
"Students who weren't considering going to the university, when
they see the UA cares about them, maybe they will rethink that
decision."
However, the bigger need is to work with the school districts to
increase the number of qualified graduates, she said. "Everybody
has the right to get the best education," said Zaragoza, a
Californian whose mother's family is from Tucson.
José Luis Santos, director of the Latino Policy Research
Initiative, shared Zaragoza's sentiments, saying the regents
were on the right track by setting goals.
"It is a smart public investment to go after that pool of
students that already meets eligibility criteria but for some
reason are not attending our universities," he said. But he
noted that many of the state's eligible graduates already are
predisposed to come to college and include top scholars who pose
different challenges because they're being wooed with lucrative
offers from top institutions.
Santos stressed that the universities have social and moral
responsibilities as public institutions to work with Arizona's
students in kindergarten through 12th grade to ensure more
students become eligible for admission. | |
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