Despite Outreach Efforts, UC Schools See Low Minority Enrollment

LOS ANGELES — Black and Hispanic enrollment at the Universities of California has not increased significantly despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the outreach programs that replaced affirmative action.
Over the past five years, the percentage of Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians who enrolled at UC schools dropped from 22 percent to 16 percent, even though high-school graduation rates for those groups increased slightly.
Those results, delivered to UC regents at their regular meeting last month, drew some questions.
"Are we right now getting our full money's worth? I'd say no," says Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is also a regent. "We need to do a lot more to ensure we're doing a better job than we're doing, that we present initiatives to the state and we make sure that we are clearly trying to do outreach for every kid."
UC officials note that the numbers are on the upswing after hitting a low point in 1998. They also say their programs, which include recruitment, college prep courses, mentoring and partnerships with public schools that serve disadvantaged students, are long-term efforts.
The program began in 1997 and isn't expected to start showing quantifiable results until 2003.
"We want it to be a long-term process because that way we can be sure that the results are going to be long-lasting," says UC spokesman Terry Lightfoot.
This year, UC officials are spending $180 million on outreach. The proposed figure for next year is $300 million, though that has yet to be approved by the Legislature. The increased amount includes $130 million to train public school teachers.
Affirmative action, by contrast, required little additional outlay of university funds. But Regent Ward Connerly, who wrote the system's new admissions policies and went on to lead a national fight against affirmative action, says race-based policies carry a hidden price.
"Preferences cost a lot. And the costs are social, they're political, they're cultural, they're financial — you just never see them. But apart from the cost, long-term it's better that we do everything we can to prepare all of our children," he says.
Regents voted in 1995 to stop considering race and gender in admissions, a policy that took effect for undergraduates in 1998. Under-represented minority admissions for that year fell sharply, particularly at the premier campuses of Berkeley and UCLA. Since then, the numbers have improved. (See Black Issues, April 27.)