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Higher Education

Higher education is a central variable that affects people's ability to gain upward social mobility in U.S. society. Hence, exploring past and present cultural beliefs, policies and laws are important for understanding experiences of minorities in higher education. It is also crucial to understand the changes within higher education that have increased minority enrollment, diversified curriculum, and altered campus climates.

Early Steps

Inequities in minority access to higher education have existed throughout the history of U.S. society. Education of Blacks was barred at all levels during the years of slavery. Yet in the northern states, abolitionist groups created colleges for the education of Blacks who were free or runaway slaves. The first of these was Cheney University, founded in 1837. Cheney and the other colleges founded during this era are recognized as the first historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

After the abolition of slavery, the United States embraced policies to segregate Black and White students in the school system. In the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court set a precedent for separate but equal education. Although the institutions for Black students were theoretically supposed to be of equivalent quality, the small number of existing Black colleges severely lacked critical educational resources.

Fisk University students. The junior normal class of Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, is shown seated on steps outside of building in the early 1900s. Since its conception in 1866, Fisk University has a long history as an educational institution and has trained a large number of important leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.

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Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-112357.

Nearly 60 years later, the legal segregation of schools was officially ended in 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that the segregation of schools based on race had led to unequal opportunities for Black students at all levels of education. Also, during this era, the U.S. government instituted the G.I. Bill, which provided college financial assistance for veterans of all races. Although the G.I. Bill did not fully address issues of Black college student enrollment, this educational funding was an important tool for Black veterans to access higher education.

Affirmative Action

Brown v. Board of Education eradicated blatant segregation, and the G.I. Bill provided financial assistance, but inequities in minority college enrollment continued. During the 1960s, affirmative action was instituted as a tool to increase the numbers of minorities on college campuses.

Affirmative action for college admissions is a contentious issue for many reasons, and the courts continue to debate its use. The application of obvious quota systems in college admissions, ensuring that a given number of applicants will be of a specific race, is one area of debate. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978 was one of the most notable cases debating quotas. Allan Bakke, a White applicant, had twice applied to the medical school program at the University of California, Davis, and had twice been denied entrance. The medical school used different evaluation procedures for White and minority candidates. In addition, the school reserved a specific number of seats for minority students. In its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of race in college admissions is acceptable, but the Court also prohibited strict quotas intended to ensure minority enrollment.

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