States must focus on the affordability of higher education at a time when tuition is rapidly increasing, but financial aid is falling behind for minority students, according to a recent report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
The education and income levels of American workers will decrease in the next decade if states do not do more to improve the number of college graduates from minority groups, according to the report.
The report examines "the projected demographic trends of the work force and the current gap in educational attainment between white and minority workers," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
This year, 17 percent of AU's undergraduate students were of different ethnicities. AU is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution, according to the freshman profile on AU's web site, www.american.edu.
Dr. Sharon Alston, director of admissions, said AU values diversity within its campus community and strives to ensure that we have a class that is diverse in all aspects such as race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation.
"Among higher education institutions, American University stands as a private university with a public responsibility," she said. "AU considers such factors as an applicant's performance and willingness to pursue a challenge in high school over a four year period, standardized test results, indication of the student's ability to contribute to campus life, statements attesting to the student's ability to succeed in an academically rigorous university program and information pertaining to the student's character."
Ebony Duncan, president of the Black Student Alliance and a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said if AU values diversity, then the university should institute more programs for minorities that focus on all minority groups and not put so much emphasis on one group.
"I wouldn't be able to afford AU without the Frederick Douglass scholarship," Duncan said. "But I graduated top class, so I feel I deserve the scholarship, regardless of my race. I feel like I've worked really hard."
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, minority groups are less likely to earn college degrees if the current educational gap continues. In 2000, the proportion of the work force with a college education decreased from 17.1 percent to 16.4 percent, and students with less than a high-school diploma increased from 16.1 percent to 18.5 percent.
"In order to prevent this from happening, increasing scholarships that may target the poor, whether they're whites or minorities, can make a significant difference," said Kinuthia Macharia, an associate professor of sociology. "I see the poor whites and poor minorities as the same. Institutions need to target the lower income groups."
If states can close the educational gap, the United States' proportion of workers with degrees will increase to 20 percent in 2020, according to the report.
"There has been an increasing number of minorities in the U.S. and they're not getting enough education," Macharia said. "This will definitely water down the education achievement level of the U.S."
Macharia compared the United States' educational institution to those in countries like Asia and Europe. He said those countries have education systems that are not segregated and have institutions of learning that are well equipped and funded.
"The problem in the United States is that the minorities go to schools that are not well equipped, so even when they finish high school they still come out as mediocre," Macharia said. "They cannot be able to compete well in jobs and many of them won't get to go on to higher education"
