In 1992, just four percent of Latino high school students were eligible for admission to the University of California; still fewer enrolled. Today, nearly 30 years later, one-quarter of undergraduate students in the UC system are Latino, and Latino students were the largest group of Californians admitted to UC in the fall of 2020. It is a remarkable transformation and one that will accelerate as the state’s Latino population increases.
In 2018, to further the success of Latino students and build the capacity of the University of California to serve an increasingly diverse student population, the University of California launched the UC Hispanic Serving Institutions Initiative. Six of nine UC campuses have received federal designation as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI’s) and the remaining campuses will likely become HSIs in the next few years.
To advance this work, the UC HSI initiative is publishing a new research brief, La Lucha Sigue, The University of California’s Role as a Hispanic Serving Research Institution. The first in a planned series of reports, the brief examines issues of importance to Latino students in the UC system and provides information and data to further understanding of California’s changing demographics and the increase in Latino enrollment. The report also highlights academic outcomes for Latino students enrolled in the UC over time and concludes with suggestions envisioning the role of the UC as a Hispanic Serving Research Institution (HSRI) system, with steps toward achieving that goal.
“California’s demographic transformation has driven great change across our state and systems of higher education, making it essential that we work together to achieve a more diverse, inclusive and equitable environment for our students,” said UCLA Professor of Education Robert T. Teranishi. “This effort can help us to ensure a vision of excellence in which UC institutions are not only premier research institutions, but that they also drive and promote equity and opportunity for all students.“
The report provides an overview of demographic trends in California and their impact on the educational pipeline, an analysis of Latino transfer students’ application and enrollment, and an overview of Latino student enrollment data over the past ten years.
“The Latino population has increased to nearly 16 million people in California and the growth has been even more pronounced among young people. More than 50 percent of the state’s high school students are Latino, and they make up 45 percent of public high school graduates who are eligible for UC or CSU admission,” said Audrey Paredes, a PhD candidate at UCLA and a co-author of the report.
“The system has seen an increase of more than 150 percent in Latino applicants for first-time freshman fall admission to UC from California public high schools from 2009 to 2019. In terms of Latino applicants from California community colleges, we have seen an increase of 184 percent. Today more than one-quarter of undergraduate students enrolled in the University of California are Latino,” Paredes adds.
The report’s authors caution of an urgent need to strengthen support for Latino access to post-secondary education, as well as to increase the number of Latino students who transfer from the California’s community college system. More than 70 percent of the state’s 1.2 million Latino students enrolled in a public college or university in California were enrolled within the California Community College (CCC) system. Yet, the data shows that only 2 percent of Latino students enrolled at a CCC will transfer to a university within a two-year timeframe.
Looking beyond access to the UC system, the report also examines completion rates for Latino students and support of post-baccalaureate educational opportunities. The data includes an analysis of six-year graduation rates, finding 87.6 percent of Latino students who began college in 2011 graduating within six years, about 3 percent less than the rate for all students. But there is a concerning gap in the four-year graduation rate, with Latino students trailing behind their peers who enrolled in UC in 2011 by about 15 percent (60.4 percent to 75.5 percent)
The reports’ authors also identify what they believe to be an urgent issue -significantly lower four-year graduation rates for first generation Latino students who are also Pell Grant recipients. Just over 42 percent of these students in the 2011 student cohort graduated within four years, compared to all almost 63 percent of all students, a gap of more than 20 percent.
“We see significant disparities among Latinx students compared to the reported rate for all racial/ethnic groups,” said Paredes. “The Pell Grant data makes it clear that low-income Latino students face barriers that may impede their graduation.”
Looking beyond the attainment of a bachelor’s degree, the report highlights the aspirations of Latino students to seek graduate or professional degrees, but finds that despite significant increases in enrollment of Latino undergraduates, Latino students continue to comprise just a small percentage (10.5 percent in 2019) of graduate students at UC campuses.
“Latino students represent a huge pool of academic talent that can make important contributions to the research and practice of the UC system and beyond,” Teranishi said. “As a system of Hispanic Serving Research Institutions, we can promote greater access, opportunity, and mobility for Latinx students into graduate and professional degree programs.”
The report authors contend that a key part of that effort is to greatly expand representation of Latino faculty and leadership across the University of California.
The report, “La Lucha Sigue” (The Struggle Continues), concludes with suggestions for furthering the University of California as a HSRI. The report’s authors contend that continuing expansion of the enrollment of Latino students is key for leaders in the UC system, but retention, timely graduation, and post-baccalaureate pathways for Latino students should also be closely considered. The authors suggest strengthening graduate student enrollment across the system, the disaggregation of data reflecting the diversity of Latino students, and collaboration with the California State University system and community colleges, among other recommendations.
“By embracing the potential opportunities of a system of Hispanic Serving Research Institutions, the UC has the opportunity to not only ensure its tradition of academic and research excellence, but to open the door wider to more equitable opportunities for learning for all students,” concludes Teranishi. “We hope this new report helps us to reimagine the possibilities and provides needed information that can help to guide the effort.”
La Lucha Sigue: The University of California’s Role as a Hispanic-Serving Research Institution is authored by UCLA School of Education and Information Studies graduate students Audrey D. Paredes, Cynthia Estrada, and Rikka J. Venturanza with UCLA Professor of Education and Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies, Robert T. Teranishi. The report, featuring data on Latino student application, enrollment, and graduation rate trends over the last ten years is available online at the UC Office of the President website.
A UC-HSI Zoom event to discuss the report’s findings will take place Wednesday, May 5 at 10 a.m. The event will be moderated by UCLA Professor Robert T. Teranishi. Audrey D. Paredes will present and discuss the research findings. Additional participants include Yvette Gullatt, Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, VP for Graduate and Undergraduate Affairs, UC Office of the President; Marcela G. Cuellar, Associate Professor of Education, UC Davis; and, Deborah A. Santiago, Co-founder & CEO, Excelencia in Education.
Registration at this link is required to attend: https://bit.ly/3tQzwDQ
Courtesy of Audrey D. Paredes.