Underrepresented API Populations in Higher Education

Underrepresented API Populations in Higher Education

Presenter: Ron P. Muriera

Education and Grants Consultant/Principal

RPM Consulting

Widening the Lens on Boys and Men of Color: Assets, Opportunities & Challenges in California’s Asian &

Pacific American Communities

Source: iCount:A Data Quality Movement for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Higher Education, ETS andNational Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE) – June 2013

Specific Focus on:FilipinosPacific IslandersSoutheast Asian

High School CompletionIn several California school districts (such as Oakland and Los

Angeles), Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander and Filipino males

have a 50% drop out rate, more than twice the statewide male

drop out rate and 3 times the national average.

Disparities exist between male and female within API subgroups.

High school completion rates for Hmong, Laotian, Samoan,

Tongan and Guamanian males are all lower than their female

counterparts. The drop out rate for Guamanian males, for

example, is 2.5 times greater than for Guamanian females.Source :R. Teranishi, Asians in the Ivory Tower: Dilemmas of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education (New York: Teachers College Press, 2010).

Access and Success in Higher EducationAmong API males that do graduate from high school, their likelihood of attending college and earning a degree is far from certain. In California, 50% of API men attend community colleges where fewer than 15% earn a degree or transfer to a 4-year institution.

More than half of all Hmong (57%), Laotian (52%), Guamanian (56%), Native Hawai’ian (56%) and Samoan (62%) men who attend college leave without earning a degree.

Source :R. Teranishi, Asians in the Ivory Tower: Dilemmas of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education (New York: Teachers College Press, 2010).

College AffordabilityAmong applicants for the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) – the nation’s largest scholarship for AAPI community – API females outnumber API males 2 to 1 among applicants in 2013 (67% female, 33% male).

Disparities between male and female APIASF applicants were particularly large among Tongans (14% vs 86%), Mien (18% vs. 82%) and Hmong (25% vs. 75%).

Source: Analysis of data from Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF)

Barriers for API BMoCPersistence in Higher Education

Lack of Academic Preparation Advisement on completion of core coursework Guidance on pathway for major

Employment Commitment to contribute financially to their family

Affordability of Attending College Rising tuition costs Increase in non-tuition costs (housing, books, supplies)

The total cost of college attendance (fees, room and board, books, etc.) varies greatly by institution type. The estimated total costs for 2013-2014 were as follows: $13,929 – Community College$22,488 – CSU $32,400 – UC $50,000 (average) – Private/Indpendent colleges

Bachelor’s Degree or MoreHigh School or Less

Asian American

Pacific Islander

Asian American

Pacific Islander

Note: 25 years and older.

Source: CARE, Federal Higher Education Policy and the AAPI Community, 2010.

Educational Attainment for AAPIs by Ethnicity, 2006-2008

Program Models/Interventions Critical to Improving Outcomes in Higher Ed for API BMoC

Secondary Level Mentoring (e.g, UPAC’s API High Risk Youth Mentorship

Program) College Readiness Programs (e.g., TRIO Upward Bound,

CalSOAP, etc.)

Post-secondary LevelAsian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) Programs: De Anza College (AAPI IMPACT) Mission College Mt. San Antonio College CSU East Bay CSU Sacramento San Jose State University

Asian Pacific American Student Services – USC Division of Student Affairs

Asian Pacific American Student Success Program – City College of SF

Asian American Resource Center – Pomona College Asian & Pacific Islander Student Center – CSU Pomona Asian Pacific American Student Development – UC

Berkeley

University of Southern California (USC) Asian Pacific American Student Services

City College of San FranciscoAsian Pacific American Student Success (APASS) Program

Pomona CollegeAsian American Resource Center (AARC)

Cal Poly PomonaAsian & Pacific Islander Student Center (APISC)

University of California, BerkeleyAsian Pacific American Student Development (APASD)

Policy and/or System Recommendations to Strengthen or Expand Program Interventions and/or

System PracticesStrengthen Collaborations and PartnershipsDevelop and/or strengthen partnerships with existing initiatives and programs to ensure API BMoC are included: The Campaign for College Opportunity CSU Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Initiative Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution

(AANAPISI) Program

Close the College Degree/Certificate Gap Preserve financial aid for low- and moderate-income Californians

through Cal Grants and increase student access to federal Pell Grants Ensure that higher education funding and policy priorities hold

colleges and universities accountable for increasing student graduation and completion rates, and closing equity gaps for underrepresented students

Improve the coordination between our high schools, two-year colleges and four-year universities with regards to early college preparation, assessment, and transfer

Ron P. Muriera

RPM Consulting328 Shadow Run Drive

San Jose, CA 95110www.rpmuriera.com

[email protected] cell