A growing number of Latinx students in California are graduating high school and enrolling in community colleges and universities, but for many their momentum stalls at college, according to a new report.
Of the students who entered a community college in California in the 2011-12 academic year, four of five Latinx students were placed into remedial courses, says a report from the Campaign for College Opportunity. Less than 40 percent of those students earn a degree or credential or transfer after six years.
The report opens with the strides that Latinx students have made in California. For example, 1.3 million Latinx were enrolled in college in the state, a whopping 91 percent increase since 2001-02.
Also, more Latinx are transferring from the state’s community colleges to state universities. The Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) program, which the state passed in 2010, has been instrumental in driving those transfer numbers. The program guarantees qualifying transfer students admission to the California State University (CSU).
When it started in 2012-13, 165 Latinx students transferred to CSU via ADT. In 2016-17, nearly 5,000 Latinx students took advantage of the program, according to the report. A recently signed agreement between California community colleges in the University of California system that would guarantee admission to qualifying students is expected to further increase numbers.
Despite the improvements, Latinx students’ transfer rates still lag behind those of whites. Only 2 percent of Latinx students transferred from a community college within two years—the lowest among all racial and ethnic groups—and only 31 percent transferred within six years.
Placement in remedial ed
The report also notes that a disproportionate number of Latinx students are placed in remedial classes, partially due to placement tests. “These tests have proven to be highly problematic and are misclassifying students into remedial courses,” the report says.
It adds that students in remedial courses typically have lower college completion rates. Of the students who entered a community college in California in 2011-12, four of every five Latinx students were placed into remedial courses, representing about 300,000, the report says. About 115,000 of those students didn’t advance into a college-level English or math course, and less than 40 percent eventually earned a degree, certificate or transferred.
The report notes that new policies in California will hopefully change that. Community colleges now must use high school grade point averages, which many education advocates feel better determine how students will perform in college than placement tests.
“If Latinx students who took pre-college level courses graduated at the same rate as those who did not, an additional 18,805 Latinx community college students would have earned a degree or certificate or transferred to a four-year university in 2016-17,” the report says.
