Despite successful college enrollment rates for students overall, college graduation data discussed during the Long Beach Unified Jan. 18 board meeting revealed Black students continue to be underrepresented among college graduates.
According to data presented by assistant superintendent of research Chris Brown, about two-thirds of LBUSD graduates enroll in college immediately after high school. However, of the 84% of Black students who graduated high school and enrolled in college, only 24% graduated, whereas 88% of white graduates enrolled in college and 46% graduated.
“These are gaps that exist and that colleges are working to remediate, but it also speaks to us about readiness, and how [the district can] help with readiness,” Brown said.
The data also revealed that a majority of LBUSD graduates enroll in two-year institutions. Although, there has recently been a decrease in the gap between students attending two-year universities and those attending four-years as well as a greater percentage of college-enrolled students overall, according to Brown.
The majority of LBUSD graduates enroll at Long Beach City College or the California State University of Long Beach after high school–43% go to LBCC and 20% to CSULB.
Forty percent of Black students attend a two-year institution and 25% attend a four-year college compared to the 34% and 43% of non-Black and non-Hispanic students that attend two and four-year institutions, respectively.
About a third of Black and Hispanic students don’t attend college after high school, yet for non-Black and non-Hispanic students, the percentage is only 23%.
“There is definitely a discrepancy in attendance patterns there between two-year and four-year universities as well as between attending and not attending,” Brown said.
College success is also a bit more difficult to track according to Brown since college enrollment and success data is collected after students leave the district; it is considered a lagging indicator.
Board member Erik Miller said the data presented was “quite disappointing.”
“This type of statistic is the exact type of information that I think we look at and build upon from one meeting to the next time that this comes up,” Miller said. “These are the kinds of numbers that I think we should continue to hold ourselves accountable to and compare ourselves against.”
Black and brown students are also underrepresented in Long Beach College Promise
Another college enrollment pattern Brown highlighted was the percentage of students who take advantage of the Long Beach College Promise.
The Long Beach College Promise is an initiative meant to provide all Long Beach students with the opportunity to go to college by offering two tuition-free years at LBCC.
According to the LBUSD website it ”extends the promise of a college education to every student in the Long Beach Unified School District to create a more vibrant community.”
However, a greater percentage of white and Asian students take advantage of the College Promise compared to Black students, according to Brown. Only 6% of Black high school graduates participate in the Long Beach College Promise compared to the 26% of white and 18% of Asian students who do.
Brown said a potential reason for this could be lack of awareness. He also pointed out the pattern that Black students have a higher rate of choosing to attend college outside of Long Beach and California.
Board member Juan Benitez said that although the original intent of the College Promise was to guarantee admission to CSULB to any LBUSD high school graduate that met A-G requirements, the specific major requirements make it more difficult to do so.
“I just can’t bear to see data and know that that is not Long Beach Promise students that are getting into CSULB or our LBCC partner,” Benitez said, adding that students who do not meet the Long Beach Promise eligibility criteria can still enroll in these institutions but without the tuition-free advantage.
Superintendent Jill Baker said the district is working on furthering conversations around the Long Beach College Promise and how to make it more effective.
“There is an appetite among the three institutions to bring this data to the table and to further talk about the commitment that the Long Beach College Promise has made to centering equity,” Baker said.
