A Just Future, Appendix B

Race and Ethnicity

Over the last 50 years, the demographic make-up of the US population has shifted dramatically. In 1965, whites in the US accounted for 84 percent of the population; in 2015, they accounted for 62 percent of the population. The largest increase has been in the Hispanic population, which almost quintupled during this period, from 4 percent in 1965 to 18 percent in 2015.

As a result of these demographic shifts, America will phase into a majority-minority country by 2045, a trend that will be particularly accentuated among American youth. In fact, apart from the Midwest and Great Plains states, in many major metropolitan areas in the West, the South, and the East Coast, this process is already well underway.

What has this meant for higher education? Thanks to the efforts of sixties- and seventies-era activists, the undergraduate student body has likewise grown more diverse over the decades. While underrepresented minority students (URMs) accounted for just 13.9 percent of college students in 1976, by fall 2017, 33.5 percent of the U.S. undergraduate population was comprised of Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native students.

Table B-1: US Population and Undergraduate Population By Race and Ethnicity, 1976-2020

Sources:

• For student data, see “Table 306.30. Fall enrollment of U.S. residents in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1976 through 2030,” National Center for Education Statistics, published in 2021.

• For US census data, see Thomas D. Snyder, ed., “120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait,” US Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, January 1993, 13; “Table 101.20. Estimates of resident population, by race/ethnicity and age group: Selected years, 1980 through 2020,” National Center for Education Statistics, published in 2020.

That said, the vast majority (82 percent) of new white enrollment goes to the 468 most selective and well-funded colleges while Black and Latinx students tend to enroll in two- or four-year open-access schools, most of which tend to be less well-funded. What’s more, although elite colleges are more racially and ethnically diverse than they were a few decades ago, they still tend to serve a large proportion of legacy students, those who attended private high schools, and students who are able to cover the full costs of attending without financial aid. In short, the rapid racial and ethnic diversification of the undergraduate student body should not obscure the fact that students of color are still more likely than their white peers to attend less selective, less resourced institutions.

Indeed, despite increased diversity among college students, inequitable outcomes persist. College completions rates for white and Asian students are far higher than for students of color. In 2019, 77 percent of Asian students and 72 percent of white college students obtained their degrees within six years; by contrast, that figure was closer to 57 percent for Latinx students and 48 percent for Black students.  And, as we saw throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, COVID-19 took a disproportionate toll on lower-income students, particularly Black and Latinx students. This is likely driven, in part, by differences in the types of institutions attended by students. As Carnevale and Stroh find (p. 25), the college completion rate for the 468 most selective four-year colleges is 82 percent, as compared to 49 percent at open-access, two- and four-year colleges, where Black and Latinx students tend to enroll.

Socioeconomic Status

Undergraduates at colleges and universities are also more socioeconomically diverse than ever before. Pell Grants, first introduced in the 1970s, are government assistance reserved for college students from low-income households, defined by the US Department of Education as households demonstrating ”exceptional family need.”

Over the last 40 years, the number of students who receive Pell assistance has grown substantially. While approximately 2.7 million college students received Pell grants in 1980, in the 2018-2019 academic year, more than 6.8 million students received Pell grants, accounting for approximately 34 percent of all undergraduates. Since 2008, approximately one third of college students regularly receive Pell grants.

The growth of the percentage of students on Pell grants over the decades might at first seem like cause to celebrate, but once again, those figures hide disturbing realities. Drawing on recent reports on the state of higher education, scholar Micere Keels writes in Campus Counterpaces that the average Pell Grant covered approximately 84 percent of published tuition and fees in 1975; however, by 2017, Pell Grants covered only 37 percent for four-year public institutions and 11 percent for four-year private, nonprofit institutions. “Essentially,” Keels concludes on page 10, “tuition increases have outpaced grant aid, and ‘aid’ increasingly comes in the form of loans.”

First-Generation Status

The number of first-generation students has risen dramatically over the last few decades. Of course, definitions of who “counts” as a first-generation student vary across institutions, but NASPA, a national organization for student affairs administrators in higher education, defines first-generation students as students coming from a household where neither parent or guardian obtained a four-year degree. In the 2015-2016 academic year, at least half of college students could be classified as first-generation.

But here again, diversity does not automatically guarantee equitable outcomes. Unlike their continuing education peers, first-generation students are less likely to receive a degree within six years. Moreover, they tend to come from households with lower median incomes. As a result, only 21 percent of low-income, first-generation college students will have a college degree within six years of enrolling in school, compared to 57 percent of their peers who are neither low-income nor first-generation students.

Finally, underrepresented minority students are more likely than white students to be first-generation students: approximately 16.7 percent of white students were first-generation students in the 2019-2020 academic year, whereas 32.1 percent of Black students, 45.8 percent of Latinx students, and 28.2 percent of Native American students belonged to this demographic.

 The Big Picture

Without a doubt, the undergraduate student population in the United States is more “diverse” than ever before. But diversity refers merely to the numerical representation of people from different backgrounds at a given institution. It promises nothing more. Consequently, diversity alone cannot, does not, and will not ever guarantee equity.