The University of Colorado’s plan to raise more scholarship money to lure minority students to Boulder is a welcome move, but one that will help diversify the school only a tiny bit.
CU can add millions to its scholarships, but it still will be a school fishing for applicants in a terribly shallow pool. Part of the answer to increasing diversity on college campuses must be found in K-12 schools, where thousands of minority children in Colorado are either falling behind or falling between the cracks and disappearing from the system.
Only 272 blacks and 1,062 Latinos were admitted to a state four-year university in 2004 and had the scores to get into CU-Boulder, according to the school’s diversity plan, which was unveiled this week.
CU’s plan does not lower its admission standards to boost its minority numbers. That’s an important statement for the school to make. Its goal must be graduating more ethnic minorities, not just getting more diverse faces on campus.
Lowering or changing CU’s admission standards to bring more minorities onto campus could hurt those students in the long run.
Still, the number of ethnic minorities at CU-Boulder is low: The campus is only 1.5 percent African-American, 5.8 percent Latino and 6 percent Asian. CU already is allowed to admit up to 14 percent of its students through a “window” in which they don’t have to meet regular admissions standards. Schools use that window to recruit student-athletes and also those who bring something besides stellar academic credentials, such as leadership skills, musical talents or ethnic diversity.
Part of the problem for CU is recruiting and retaining Colorado minority students who meet its academic standards. But those students often can write their own tickets to any school. CU accepts 96 percent of the minorities who apply and meet its academic criteria. However, only 45 percent of them actually enroll.
Keeping a few more of Colorado’s academic stars at home would help CU’s numbers, but nothing will help more than making sure more minorities graduate from high school, and that those students know college is within their grasp.
CU’s plan has some useful tools, including diversity training for top administrators and all students beginning in the fall. For a school that has had some high-profile racial incidents, that sends a strong message.
But higher education, in general, needs to work more with K-12 to ensure more of today’s students are prepared to be tomorrow’s college graduates.
