For more than a decade, statistics have shown Asian students are outperforming every other ethnic group, including whites, in increasing college admissions rates. Asians comprise 17 percent of Cornell University’s undergraduate population, proportionately more than 4 percent of Asians listed in the last U.S. census. In California, the end of school preferences based on race in 1996 led to ballooning Asian enrollment. The numbers make it clear Asians have successfully been drawn into academia, whether through institutional preference or self-initiative, but other minority groups must still be brought up to a level of representative parity.
Between 1976 and 2004, Asian/Pacific Islander enrollment in U.S. colleges increased by 461 percent, according to a September 2007 Education Department report. Though Hispanics and blacks are better represented in higher education than they were 31 years ago, enrollment increases lag behind that for Asians at 130 and 103 percent, respectively.
As bad as national figures seem, the ethnic makeup at BU is even worse. According to BU’s Enrollment Planning and Retention Office, Hispanic students comprise only 6 percent of reporting undergraduates, while blacks make up a paltry 3 percent. For an institution that prides itself on its global outlook, its minority enrollment — excluding Asians — trails even national figures. Considering the fact that 7 percent of these students live outside the United States, it is hard to ignore the idea that BU is under-representing minorities in America.
Laurie Pohl, the vice president of Enrollment and Student Affairs, said the Admissions Office makes decisions “without regard to race or ethnicity” — a statement that must be taken at face value given the lack of transparency in BU’s admissions process. As a private institution, BU can withhold policy information public institutions are legally required to divulge, and it exercises that right in most of its operations, presumably to undertake the kind of bold initiatives President Robert Brown promises will elevate it to the top tier of U.S. universities. Much of BU’s prestige comes from its successful efforts to attract students from every state and nations around the world. A global student body is part of what vaulted BU from a commuter school to a world-renowned institution.
Regardless of whether BU considers race in its admissions decisions, there are other means of attracting underrepresented groups that could keep its inclusive reputation alive. The Development and Alumni Relations Office should focus on strengthening its relationships with black and Hispanic alumni and encourage them to donate specifically for scholarship funds. The university could also devote more of its aggressive recruitment effort to high schools with large Hispanic and black student populations so more students consider attending BU. This would mean paying more attention to public schools in urban areas, many of which educate more students in need of financial aid and fewer who can support the university’s tuition-dependent budget.
There are costs included in all these efforts. However, they can pay off when BU is able to help fulfill its social mission by shaping more equitable generations in the future rather than merely responding to stratified and segregated social trends.
