How is higher education access different for minority and low income students?

Higher education has historically been associated with upward mobility and higher paying careers.  However the racial and economic history of higher education is complicated. The tremendous costs of higher education present barriers for non-white students, first-generation students, students from low-income households, and any student that shares more than one of these identities. This lack of affordability can be associated with both Black and Latine students’ increased likelihood of attending 2-year colleges when compared to their white peers.

Despite these barriers, the rate of minoritized students attending college has steadily increased. For example, 55% of recent Black high school graduates have attended, or are currently enrolled in, college.

What are Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)?

Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) like Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are diverse institutions that play pivotal roles in expanding access to higher education for minority students. They share a mission of expanding access to higher education for minority students. They are diverse campuses that support their student bodies by providing education in culturally affirming environments (1,2,3,4,5). 

In other educational environments like Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), both minority students and students from low-income households are underrepresented and face structural admission barriers (6). Those barriers include an over-reliance on standardized tests that do not account for K-12 achievement or funding.

How do MSIs help minority students succeed?

More than half of students of color in undergraduate programs attend MSIs across the U.S. (3) HBCUs only represent 3% of all American colleges, but account for approximately 14% of all enrolled Black college students, and 50% of Black teachers are HBCU alumni (7). HBCUs also create pipelines to graduate programs for Black students.

What about affirmative action?

Historically, affirmative action has been an effective method for increasing access to higher education spaces outside of MSIs for Black, Latine, and other minority students. However, the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard has deemed affirmative action unconstitutional. We have yet to see how this ruling will impact the racial progress made on college campuses, but it will be yet another method of decreasing access to higher education for minoritized and low-income students.

What does this mean for minoritized borrowers?

All of this means that the programs offered are overwhelmingly available to White professional degree holders. But these programs have an opportunity to be used to recruit more diverse students into these professional degree programs with the promise of limited term contracts to help pay off some of this overwhelming debt.

Explore this topic further:

Learn more: Experiencing Debt
Learn More: Repercussions of Debt

References

  1. Esters, L. L., & Strayhorn, T. L. (2013). Demystifying the contributions of public land-grant historically Black colleges and universities: Voices of HBCU presidents. Negro Educational Review, 64(1-4), 119-134.
  2. Bracey, E. N. (2017). The significance of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the 21st century: Will such institutions of higher learning survive?. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 76(3), 670-696.
  3. Johnson, G. S., Gray, V., Gray, L. D., Richardson, N. L., Rainey-Brown, S. A., Triplett, K. L., & Bowman, L. E. (2017). Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the twenty first century: An exploratory case study analysis of their mission. Race, Gender & Class, 24(3-4), 44-67./li>
  4. Nguyen, M. H., Ramirez, J. J., & Laderman, S. (2023). What counts as a minority-serving institution? Toward the utilization of a standardized and uniform definition and typology. Educational Researcher, 52(3), 174-179.
  5. Turman, N. T., & Irwin, L. N. (2023). Centering minority‐serving institutions to counter dominant narratives about leadership identity development. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2023(178), 65-74.
  6. Harper, S.R., Patton, L.D., & Wooden, O.S. (2009). Access and equity for African American students in higher education: A critical race historical analysis of policy efforts. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(4), 389-414.
  7. Baskerville, L. (2010). Legislative briefing report (Annual Report) Washington, DC: United Negro College Fund.