Strategic Plan to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Connecticut Public Higher Education, 2007. Annual Report
Author: Connecticut Department of Higher Education
Date: 2007-03-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Strategic Planning,Public Colleges,Academic Achievement,Annual Reports,Ethnic Diversity,Racial Composition,Outreach Programs,Enrollment Rate,Graduation Rate,Institutional Characteristics,College Outcomes Assessment,Minority Group Students,Equal Education,Educational Opportunities,Affirmative Action

Increasing the participation of minority groups at public colleges and universities is a longstanding goal of the Board of Governors for Higher Education, as first outlined in its 1983 &quot;Strategic Plan to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Connecticut Public Higher Education.&quot; The minority groups defined by the plan are: Hispanic/Latino, African American, Asian American and Native American--listed in order of their current proportional presence in the state's population. Since enactment of the &quot;Strategic Plan&quot;, students attending and graduating from Connecticut's public colleges and universities have become more racially and ethnically diverse and 2006 continues a trend of year-to-year incremental progress. The number of minority group members among both enrolled students and degree recipients at the undergraduate level reached record levels. There has also been a steady increase in the number of minority group members employed as professionals at public institutions. The overall trends are: (1) In fall 2006, minorities numbered 24,278 or 25.3 percent of all undergraduate students enrolled in the state's public institutions of higher education, exceeding their proportional presence in the state's population for the ninth consecutive year; (2) During the 2005-06 academic year, minority students received 2,476 or 18.9 percent of all undergraduate degrees (associate and bachelor's degrees) conferred by the state's public colleges and universities; and (3) Among full-time professionals employed by the state's public institutions of higher education, 1,444 were minority group members at the end of 2006. Despite impressive growth over the course of the past 23 years, disproportional levels of achievement in minority enrollment, graduation and employment persist. Persistent areas of racial/ethnic disparity in Connecticut's public higher education include: (1) Hispanic/Latinos are the only minority group whose overall undergraduate enrollment level has not reached its proportion of the state's population; (2) Hispanic/Latino and African American students are overrepresented in their enrollment at community colleges and underrepresented at universities; (3) Disproportionate numbers of Hispanic/Latino and African American students who enroll in college fail to attain an undergraduate degree; and (4) Hispanic/Latinos are underrepresented in each of the professional occupational categories within the professional workforce of the public institutions of higher education. This report summarizes the activities and progress achieved in 2006 to ensure that Connecticut's public colleges and universities are representative of the state's racial and ethnic diversity. (Contains 25 tables and 6 graphs.)