Shut Up and Dribble

 

Affirmative Action and the Path Forward

Rodney D. Coates*

 

 

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that race could no longer be considered college admissions in two separate opinions.  This ruling will impact all institutions of higher education across the country.  According to some pundits, Black and Hispanic students are the most affected. 

 

Affirmative action has done little to impact diversity across our colleges and universities. Affirmative action will not fix the problems faced by colleges and universities.  A 2020 U.S. Department of Education study reveals that in many states, where Black students make up 20-50% of high school graduates, their enrollment at public flagship universities within the state ranges from 8 – 17 percent.  These data demonstrate that Affirmative Action has not worked in our universities.  The strange reality is that while much of the concern has been on race-based affirmative action, Higher education faces some real fiscal challenges in the future. Affirmative action does not address these challenges, but diversifying the student population does present a potential solution.   

 

College enrollments have been declining for the past two decades.  That decline is close to 17% or 3.3 million students.   The decline in college enrollment is directly attributable to the shift in demographics.  Currently, the fastest-growing population groups are Asian (104%), Hispanic (63%), and Black (31%).   The future will look like this as the United States becomes a majority-minority country within the next 20 years.  This is also what the future of universities and colleges must contend with.  But herein lies a problem: absolute decreases in student populations and within groups.   For over a decade, colleges have been deeply concerned about gender imbalances.  The number of men attending colleges has increasingly fallen over this period.  And admissions officers have lowered test standards, increased financial support, and done everything to attract more men to their colleges.  But despite everything they have done, nationwide male enrollment continues to decline. 

 

Many universities and colleges turned to international students to fill their seats and pay the bills.  Leading in new admissions were international students, particularly from China and India.  All of this came to a scratching end with the advent of COVID.  Now, colleges are witnessing a decline in international students by 43%.   These declines match the continual decline in overall student enrollments that will continue long into the future.  This has only intensified the fiscal uncertainty facing public universities and colleges.  This vulnerability increases as state funding becomes more uncertain.  Here in Miami, for example, 30 years ago, 85 % of our revenue came from the state; today, that is less than 5%.     The cost of higher education is also a factor.  The fact that the average college graduate leaves college with approximately $40K in debt deters many.  Added to this is the question of what they will get with this diploma.  What is the return on investment?  What skills will they have?  Finally, we must ensure that not only college but all forms of post-secondary education is assessable and affordable for all students. 

 Diversity, which includes students representing domestic minorities, those economically challenged, gender, out-of-state recruitment, and international students, are and will continue to be the driving force for college admissions. 

Next, gender imbalance is a major issue across higher education. Today, men only comprise 40% of enrollment compared to the almost 60% who are women. Gender balancing is taking place as universities attempt to arrive at gender parity. Thus men, not racial groups, are getting considerably more attention in admissions processes.   

Many universities and colleges turned to international students to fill their seats and pay the bills.  Leading in new admissions were international students, particularly from China and India.  All of this came to a scratching end with the advent of COVID.  Now, colleges are witnessing a decline in international students by 43%.   These declines match the continual decline in overall student enrollments that will continue long into the future.  This has only intensified the fiscal uncertainty facing public universities and colleges.  This vulnerability increases as state funding becomes more uncertain.  Here in Miami, for example, 30 years ago, 85 % of our revenue came from the state; today, that is less than 5%.     The cost of higher education is also a factor.  The fact that the average college graduate leaves college with approximately $40K in debt deters many.  Added to this is the question of what they will get with this diploma.  What is the return on investment?  What skills will they have?  Finally, we must ensure that not only college but all forms of post-secondary education is assessable and affordable for all students. 

 The problem regarding race is that it singles out Blacks and Hispanics while ignoring those that are poor. Poor whites are also less likely to find their way into the college admissions process.   Similarly, affirmative action might benefit some Blacks and Hispanics, but these are in the middle and upper middle classes. The very students whose economic status places them in the type of schools, like their white peers, need no extra help in being admitted into colleges or universities. In fact, given the sharp and projected continual decline in available students, these students will be prized by every admissions counselor in the nation. The problems for the other groups are more systemic and require more systemic solutions. 

 Affirmative action, focusing on minority students, comes on the scene too late to have any real impact. The problem occurs long before college but in secondary education.  In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in the DeRolph v. State of Ohio that how we fund education is unconstitutional. Twenty years later, we still fail to provide equitable funding across all our schools. What is needed, they argued, is a complete and systematic overhaul. It favors the more affluent, suburban schools while shortchanging rural and urban areas. Our focus cannot be just on Blacks and Hispanics but also on poor whites, ensuring that all get equitable access to quality education. Inadequate funding leads to poor-performing schools, increased school dropout rates, the permanence of the cradle-to-prison pipeline, and the lack of college preparation. The result is that fewer and fewer students are qualified to attend college.   Fixing this problem means investing in our schools and their education, and it means establishing pathways to what colleges have to offer. 

 According to a U.S. News ranking, Ohio ranks #37 in Higher Education. If we expect to continue to grow economically and to attract major companies such as  Marathon Petroleum, Procter and Gamble, Kroger, Cardinalo Insurance, and Nationwide, then we cannot concentrate on race but must focus on education, adequate and equitable funding, and leveling the playing field for all our citizens -regardless of economic circumstances, geographical location, or racial identity.     What is needed is not affirmative action but affirmative opportunity. Only such an investment will take us forward. 

 

*Rodney D. Coates is a professor in the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies at Miami University.  All comments in this article are those of its author and may not reflect either Miami University or the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies.  

His contact information is coatesrd@miamioh.edu