Minority Enrollment in CA Universities

Source: National Center for Educational Statistics

We often hear the claim that since Prop 209 was passed in CA ten years ago, minority enrollment at California universities has declined. For example, see page 2 of this report titled "The Potential Impact of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative on Employment, Education and Contracting," by Susan Kaufman (University of Michigan's Center for the Education of Women), who writes that Prop 209 in CA "led to significant decreases in college enrollment of minority students."

As the data above clearly show, there have NOT been any significant decreases in minority enrollment in the state of California since Prop 209 was passed in 1996. In fact, there has been an enrollment increase in absolute numbers for all three minority groups in the state of California from 1994-2004, and either a stable percentage (African-American and Native American) or a significant increase in percentage (Hispanic) of these minority groups.

Please also note that the total enrollment for the entire University of California (UC) system at the 8 UC campuses is approximately 200,000 students. Compared to the total college enrollment for the entire state of California of approximately 2,400,000 students, college enrollment in California at the UC campuses represents less than 9% of the total college enrollment in the state. Further, there are approximately 400 colleges and universities in the state of California, and the eight UC campuses represent only 2% of the total number of colleges in the state of California.