Madison Hamilton graduated from Canoga Park High School in the spring with numerous honors. She was high school valedictorian, earned a 4.5 GPA, and passed all eight AP tests. She mentored students with special needs and established a social club for them. And she received a rare admissions offer from Stanford University, one of the most selective universities in the nation.
However, Hamilton declined to attend UCLA from Stanford University.
She said the Westwood campus’ welcoming environment for black students like herself was a deciding factor. For example, during the spring, UCLA invited her to campus for the African American Academic Excellence event, where she was joined by Tracy, dean of life sciences and professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology. -Meeted with black teachers including L. Johnson.
“Seeing a black professor who looked like me in the field I wanted to go into was very inspiring and made me want to go to UCLA even more,” Hamilton said. “I felt like UCLA really needed me.”
Madison Hamilton, a first-year student at UCLA, said she interacted with Black faculty, staff, and students on campus.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
While other elite universities across the country have seen precipitous declines in the diversity of their first classes after the U.S. Supreme Court banned affirmative action, UCLA will enroll a record number of Black students in the fall of 2024. and accepted Latino students, bucking that trend. Like all public educational institutions in California, UCLA is prohibited from considering race, gender, ethnicity, color, or national origin in admissions tests under Proposition 209, which voters approved in 1996. . Universities were therefore forced to develop. Race-neutral policies and more than 25 years of work in this field are paying off.
UCLA increased the number of Black students by 5.1% and the number of Latino students by 4.3%. Among the 6,118 first-year students enrolled this fall from California and other states, white students decreased by 8.8%, while Asian and Native American students remained about the same.
UCLA experienced a similar increase in transfer students. The number of black students increased by 4.5%, Latinos by 5.6% and Asians by 1.5%. Native Americans decreased by 28%, and whites decreased by 2.8%.
UCLA admissions is very different from other elite schools
The increase in black and Latino enrollment stands in sharp contrast to the results of other selective institutions in their first post-affirmative action classes. Of the top 37 colleges and universities that released fall 2024 enrollment data, 30 reported a decline in black students, and 23 reported a decline in black students, according to a tracker by Education Reform Now, a nonpartisan nonprofit education organization. There was a decrease in the number of Latinx students.
For example, the number of Black students enrolled at Johns Hopkins University decreased by 66.1% in fall 2024 compared to the average of the previous two years, and the number of Latino students decreased by 51.2%. Over the same period, both demographic groups saw declines of 64.3% and 26.7% at MIT and 37.5% and 11.8% at Stanford, respectively.
At Harvard University, the University of Southern California, and Pomona College, enrollment of black students decreased while enrollment of Latino students increased. Yale University and Northwestern University, like UCLA, saw increases in both black and Latino enrollment in their fall classes.
“For many institutions, this past year has been a completely new environment for admissions,” said David Hawkins, director of education and policy at the national association. For university admission counseling. “Following the Supreme Court ruling, all universities reiterated their commitment to equity and access, but changes to admissions policies take time due to the diversity of stakeholders involved in setting admissions policies. There may be cases.
He noted that the majority of the nation’s 2,000 four-year colleges accept most applicants, so there is no need to use affirmative action to distribute coveted seats. Studies conducted by his association over the years have found that only about 30% of four-year institutions consider race or ethnicity in admissions decisions.
But Hawkins said UCLA offers a useful roadmap for universities grappling with new ways to recruit, enroll and enroll diverse students in race-neutral ways. Two years ago, as a lawsuit against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs was making its way to the high court, the National College Counseling Organization asked UCLA about how it was recovering from a steep decline in its black and brown populations. I was asked to provide an introductory book. In the wake of Proposition 209, Latino students restored diversity with race-neutral efforts.
UCLA’s recruitment efforts are thorough.
Hawkins said the biggest takeaway was UCLA’s “ground game.” He praised UCLA’s concerted efforts to build connections with the high schools, community organizations and families of the students the university hopes to attract. “They really pulled out all the stops very clearly,” he said.
Gary Clark, vice chancellor for enrollment management at UCLA, said key programs include collaboration with 28 Los Angeles Unified high schools to help counselors, principals and district leaders prepare students for college admissions. He said it helps them understand early on what kind of rigorous classes and preparation are required. Competitive applicants to UCLA.
UCLA, like other University of California campuses, has in-person college counselors, sometimes embedded in high schools, to supplement the school’s own staff. Clubs on the UCLA campus, such as the African Student Union, host welcome events. Campus tours and Bruin Days, open to all admitted students, feature multilingual support so parents can receive information in the language they are most comfortable speaking. And UCLA faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds are becoming more involved in the hiring process, helping students like Hamilton contribute to their success.
Clark also said UCLA is focused on raising funds for institutional scholarships to supplement state and federal financial aid, helping to reach underserved students. . Approximately 28% of first-year students in California and other states were low-income, and 29% were the first in their families to attend college. Among transfer students, 45% were low-income and 41% were first-generation.
Partnering with community colleges also allowed UCLA to enroll the most transfer students into the UC system. They made up 37 percent of UCLA’s incoming class and more than met the state’s goal of one transfer student for every two incoming freshmen. Nine out of 10 transfer students were from California community colleges.
It took decades to see strong results.
Mr Clark said progress did not happen overnight, but was “slow and steady”.
For example, UCLA’s enrollment of black students plummeted after Proposition 209 went into effect in 1997, from 236 (6%) in 1996 to 144 (3% of first-year students) in 1998. decreased. In the fall of 2024, 486 black students, about 8% of first-year students in California and other states, will enroll.
Latino enrollment decreased from 699 students (18%) in 1996 to 439 students (10%) in 1998. In fall 2024, 1,582 Latino students enrolled, representing nearly 26% of the first-year student body.
Asians will be the largest group in the fall 2024 freshman class at 39%, followed by 22% white and 1% Native American.
While Clark credits this year’s increase in diversity to the hard work of his team, he also wants to give a shout out to the incoming students who had to navigate major challenges in the federal financial aid application process as college applicants last year. sent.
“The resiliency shown by these students and their families should be celebrated,” Clark said.
Even after being rejected as a freshman applicant two years ago, Luis Barbosa never gave up on his dream of attending UCLA. He said he fell into a deep depression and began to resent his first-generation status, blaming his Mexican immigrant parents for not educating him to be a competitive college applicant.
But a counselor at Segerstrom High School in Santa Ana told him he could go to UCLA from community college. He enrolled at Irvine Valley College. There he learned how to overcome his fears and seek help from counselors and teachers. He stayed on top of the courses required for UCLA and sought tutoring to turn his grades from Bs and Cs in high school to A’s in community college. He served in leadership roles as a junior mentor, Honor Society officer, and campus ambassador promoting higher education.
“I was in a really dark place, but I always told myself that I could either let fear be my future, or I could let fear be my motivation and do something to get to UCLA,” Barbosa said. said.
UCLA did not improve the diversity of its student body overnight, but it did so through years of steady progress.
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
America Jimenez is also the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her father is a truck driver and her mother works at a flea market. She never dreamed of attending UCLA for fear of rejection. But earning a 4.5 GPA at Aspire Pacific Academy in Huntington Park, a leadership role in student government, and caring for his younger sister when his parents were at work, even on exam nights. Jimenez received an offer of admission from UCLA because of his maturity level. Both she and her mother cried with joy.
Jimenez said she found a welcoming community at UCLA, including having roommates with similar Latinx backgrounds and participating in Hermanas Unidas, a campus group that provides support and resources for Chicana and Latina women. spoke.
Ms. Hamilton said the Black Bruin Resource Center is dedicated to the work of many people from her past, including baseball legend Jackie Robinson and civil rights icon Ralph Bunch, the first African-American to win the Nobel Prize. He said it gives him a sense of belonging, reminding him of the black pioneers who walked the campus before him. Peace Prize. Her father also graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science.
At the same time, he said he is excited to attend a university with students from a variety of backgrounds, a departure from Canoga Park High School, where 87% of students are Latino.
“As a Black student, I love being around people who look like me, but I also enjoy being around people who don’t look like me,” she said. “I’m grateful to be on such an integrated campus. I feel like everyone here is so supportive and believes in me.”
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