Black Enrollment at UCLA Hits 30-Year Low

Blacks will make up less than two per cent of the freshman class entering UCLA this fall, marking the lowest level of black enrollment at that institution in over thirty years.

Black enrollment at the University of California's flagship campuses has declined sharply since 1996, when California voters passed a referendum barring the use of race in admissions decisions. Backers of that law say that under-performing public schools that fail to prepare students for competitive college admissions are to blame for this trend.

Meanwhile, Yanina Montero, UCLA's vice chancellor for student affairs, calls the current state of black enrollment "a crisis." "We are not able, with these numbers, if they continue to decline, to have a critical mass of African-American students on campus to provide them with a positive experience, as well as maintaining the quality of the educational environment," she told National Public Radio in a report broadcast on July 24.

Source: "Black Student Enrollment at UCLA Plunges," by Elaine Korry - Morning Edition, NPR, July 24, 2006