Post Prop-209, Asian Students Benefit, and Are Now Almost 50% of Student Body at UC-Berkeley
From the article "Admissions and Public Higher Education in California, Texas, and Florida: The Post-Affirmative Action Era":
How did Asian-American students fare in the changing admissions environment after Proposition 209 ended affirmative action? Early studies in California suggested that the elimination of affirmative action would significantly advantage Asian-American students in their efforts to gain admission to UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and UC-San Diego. Was that, in fact, the case over time?
The data suggest that Asian-American students in California were the major beneficiaries of Proposition 209 in California. At UC-Berkeley, for example, Asian-American enrollment ("first time in college" enrollment) jumped from 37.30% in 1995 to 43.57% in 2000 following the implementation of Proposition 209, and, since that date, the number and percentage of Asian-Americans has increased steadily at both UC-Berkeley and UCLA, reaching 46.59% at UC-Berkeley and 41.53% at UCLA (in 2008).
For UC-San Diego, the number of Asian-American students continues to increase, from 35.93% in 1995 to 36.33% in 2000 and 46.88% in 2005. Clearly in an open admissions process where affirmative action does not enter into enrollment decisions and where legacy and donor issues are discouraged, Asian-American students compete very well.
MP: Thanks to an anonymous commenter for the link.
Originally posted at Carpe Diem.
6 Comments:
3% of UC Berkeley are black but 13% of Stanford are black.
Amazing what happens when you prohibit racism.
Stanford's euphemistic "Freshmen and Sophomore Program" drags them through the curriculum kicking and screaming. Nothing like college mismatch to destroy a person's chances of success.
The Asians in California aren't doing anytinhg blacks couldn't do if they really wanted to. But of course that requires hard work, rather than playing the victim...
Top notch colleges are going to teach their courses at a high speed with the assumption that their students are also top notch and can keep up.
Many students who went to crappy grade school and got an inferior education as a result. If they are admitted on a par with top notch students, they will inevitably fall behind and drop out, helping no one.
But if they go to a school that teaches at a level and pace they can handle, then they *can* (it is up to them to put in the effort) excel in that environment, and walk away with a degree they can use.
So to state that the new system benefits Asians is telling only half the story. The new system also benefits those who no longer have to drop out because they are in over their heads due to a crappy K-12 education provided by urban schools run by the government.
@ happyjugglar0'
I did not realize that Cali has such a vast network of private schools that Asian pre-college students attend.
Does anyone doubt that the lack of a two-parent household hurts the children dramatically in the black community? Uncle Sam does not do a good job of providing a somewhat stable environment to grow up in as the stand-in father.
gettingrational,
The problem is urban schools simply suck. It takes some serious parenting to overcome that, or a move to a suburb with a decent public school.
I just read the article Berkeley's Chancellor put up about 209 decreasing Latino/AA/NA minorities at Berkeley.
Sure, this articles addresses Asians benefitting from 209, but it doesn't take a look at the reason behind it. Asians ARE a minority in the US, yet country (and college admissions) look at being Asian not as a potential advantage in getting admitted, but as a hindrance.
My Asian friends all firmly believe that if they could get away with marking "Caucasian" on their apps, they'd get admitted to whatever college they want. And it's probably true.
As seen in this article, under 209, Asians that were previously eliminated (because compared to the rest of their race, they didn't qualify) were accepted. Why? Because without racial considerations, Asians make up half of the top tier students Berkeley wants for admittance? What was stopping them before?
There is something seriously wrong with the American system. There were no Civil Rights programs, no affirmative action, no ethnic-in-tickets, and never any paradigms in favor of "taking into account ethnic disadvantages" for Asian groups in this country's history.
Yet they manage to succeed and swamp all the Ivy Leagues and Cal colleges and turn their minority into practically a majority on campus. Why can't the other ethnic groups accomplish the same?
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