Minority Enrollment Is Up, Particularly at 2-Year Colleges, Report Says

[Harold F. Schiffman]

 http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/12/1061n.htm

Friday, December 21, 2007

Minority Enrollment Is Up, Particularly at 2-Year Colleges, Report Says
By KELLY FIELD

Washington

More minority students are enrolling in college, and they're increasingly
choosing two-year institutions, according to a new report by the
Government Accountability Office. The report, "Tuition Continues to Rise,
but Patterns Vary by Institution Type, Enrollment, and Educational
Expenditures," which was requested by U.S. Rep. George Miller, Democrat of
California, found that enrollments of Hispanic students at American
colleges and universities grew by 25 percent between the 2000-1 and 2006-7
academic years, while enrollment among African-American students and Asian
and Pacific Islander students both increased by 15 percent. The enrollment
growth for white students was less than 3 percent.

The report also found that African-American and Hispanic college students
were more likely to attend two-year colleges last year than they had been
12 years earlier. Between the 1995-96 academic year and the 2006-7
academic year, the number of Hispanic students enrolled in four-year
institutions declined by two percentage points, while the number enrolled
in two-year colleges increased by four percentage points. Over the same
period, African-American students' enrollment in four-year institutions
fell by three percentage points, while their enrollment in two-year
colleges grew by the same amount.

By 2006-7, 60 percent of all Hispanic college students were enrolled in
two-year colleges, as were 50 percent of African-American, Asian/Pacific
Islander and Alaskan Native students, and 43 percent of white students.

Mr. Miller, who is chairman of the House of Representatives education
committee, expressed concerns that students are being priced out of
four-year institutions. "Students should be free to choose the college
that best suits their needswhether two-year or four-yearirrespective of
price," he said. He said his committee will hold hearings on this topic
next year.

According to the report, while tuition and fees among all institutions
increased over the last 12 years, tuition and fees at two-year public
colleges increased by the smallest dollar amount and tuition and fees at
two-year private colleges increased by the smallest percentage. Private
colleges also spent more on average on education-related expenses than
public colleges. At private institutions, tuition increases correlated
with higher expenditures on education-related services; at public
institutions, such expenditures did not keep pace with tuition growth.

The report also reveals that most students attend inexpensive colleges.
According to the report, the majority of students attend colleges costing
less than $5,000; only 3 percent of students attend colleges costing more
than $25,000.

"The GAO report demonstrates what higher-education-finance experts have
been saying for years: the 'college tuition issue' is far more complex and
nuanced than the way it is usually portrayed, said Terry W. Hartle, senior
vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council
on Education. "Obviously, some families face huge burdens financing a
college education, but higher education remains affordable for a huge
number of families."

But Mr. Miller said the report's findings on college cost "further
highlights the need for fair and full information about increases in
college prices and where those tuition hikes are being spent." Mr. Miller
is the author of legislation that would have the Department of Education
rank colleges according to how much they increase their tuition and fees,
and place colleges whose prices grew too quickly on watch lists. Such
colleges would be required to create "quality-efficiency task forces" to
review their operations and identify "cost-reduction opportunities." Those
provisions are part of a bill to renew, or reauthorize, the Higher
Education Act, which the full House is expected to take up in January or
February.

The Congressional Budget Office released a cost analysis this week
estimating that some 1,500 colleges would make the watch list. It predicts
that the cost to colleges to produce the reports would be "modest."

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