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Convening
Are Current Policy Changes Closing the Door to College for Students of Color?

Background

In the two years that the first Trump Administration was in power, there was a multi-faceted, paradigm shift in educational policy that widened the racial gap in access to and completion of college.

The Civil Rights Project commissioned leading experts to address the most pressing issues and present five new studies on Capitol Hill. Those interested in the future of higher education and racial equity received vital new information.  The briefing took place on Tuesday, September 25th from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm at the Dirksen Senate Building, Room G11.

Several leading researchers and academics unveiled data demonstrating the probable impacts of recent policy changes on college students of color. Amid all of the other changes in those first two years, these received too little attention but, put together, were likely to have damaging consequences for racial justice and minority opportunity.

From targeted actions that have redefined affirmative action policies as discrimination against Asian Americans and whites, the impact of the revival of federal funding for for-profit colleges, budget changes that threaten HCBUs, cuts to programs for incarcerated students, and to federal risk-sharing proposals around student loans that will force colleges to screen out the students who most need support, the door to college for students of color was closing.

Watch the event video.

AGENDA

10:30-10:34  Welcome & Introduction

Gary Orfield, Professor/Co-Director, UCLA Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles

10:35-11:14  Major findings from new research (7 mins. each)

OiYan Poon, Asst. Professor/Director, Center for Racial Justice in Education and Research, Colorado State University (Co-author Liliana Garces, University of Texas at Austin) presentation summary

Paper:  Asian Americans and Race-Conscious Admission: Understanding the Conservative Opposition’s Strategy of Misinformation and Racial Division

Andrés Castro Samayoa, Asst. Professor, Boston College presentation summary

Paper:  Minority Serving Institutions under Trump’s Presidency: Considerations for Current Policies and Future Actions

Brian PusserAssoc. Professor, University of Virginia (Co-author Matt Ericson, UVA) presentation summary

Paper:  The Impact of the PROSPER Act on Underrepresented Students in For-profit Colleges

Erin Corbett, Senior Analyst, Institute for Higher Education Policy (Co-author Julie Ajinkya, IHEP) presentation summary

Paper:  In Consideration of Reinstating Pell for Incarcerated Students

Nick Hillman, Assoc. Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison presentation summary

Paper:  How Accountability Can Increase Racial Inequality: The Case of Federal Risk-Sharing

11:15-11:22  Commentator on new research

11:23-11:57  Q&A

11:58-12:00  Summary: Gary Orfield

 

  • Start Date
    September 25, 2018
  • Time
    10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
  • Location
    Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G11, 120 Constitution Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002
  • Format
    Policy Briefing
  • Contact
    crp@ucla.edu
  • URL
    More information

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