California: Higher Education

Overview
Despite representing 42.4% of all 18- to 24-year-olds (the traditional college-bound age group) in California, Latinos constituted only 24.3% of all students enrolled in California’s public colleges in the fall of 2000. California’s Proposition 209, which ended the use of race, gender, and ethnicity as consideration in public university admissions, resulted in an overall decrease of already underrepresented students in the state’s postsecondary institutions.

NCLR Position
NCLR supports policies that seek to increase access to postsecondary education for Latino students. Specifically NCLR works to maintain K-12 Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships, or “outreach” programs, within the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems, which focus their services on educationally disadvantaged students who do not have equal access to college preparatory resources, serve students who reflect the diversity of the state’s population, and are particularly critical for Latino students who remain underrepresented in California public postsecondary institutions. NCLR has also promoted the passage of in-state tuition rates for California’s undocumented students and supports policies to make financial aid available to eligible students.

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