1. Prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in mission statements and set aspirational goals to address the enrollment of students from historically underrepresented communities.

Recruitment 09.20.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • The U.S. Department of Education should ensure that higher education institutions have access to and an understanding of best practices to eliminate unfair barriers to opportunity and prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in their mission statements.

Here’s what state government can do:

  • State higher education coordinating agencies[i] should establish an aspirational goal that state systems of higher education reflect the diversity of their state population, including socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic diversity.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • Higher education institutions should set aspirational recruitment and enrollment goals and metrics mirroring the state’s socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic demographics among 18- to 24-year-olds
  • Higher education institutions should have a publicly available mission statement on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility that addresses the enrollment of students from historically underrepresented communities.

All students benefit when higher education institutions prioritize addressing discrimination and ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their mission and when they strengthen these efforts by setting aspirational enrollment goals for historically underrepresented students.[ii] For example, the University of California — which offers one admissions deadline, direct admissions, and holistic review practices — has factored into their mission the need to:

  • Increase the percentage of undergraduates from underrepresented groups admitted to and/or enrolled.
  • Increase the percentage of first-generation undergraduate students admitted to and/or enrolled.
  • Increase the percentage of graduate students from underrepresented groups admitted to and/or enrolled.
  • Increase the percentage of faculty members, and tenured faculty, from underrepresented groups.
  • Increase the percentage of staff members at campuses, labs, and health locations from underrepresented groups.[iii]

California’s decision to ban affirmative action undercut the fundamental principles of racial equity in higher education and limited institutional abilities to build campuses that reflect the diversity of the state. Since 1998, the enrollment of Black and Hispanic students at the University of California (UC) system has decreased by about 800 students per year.[iv] Following the ban, the UC system has assessed, reevaluated, and coupled policies, such as offering a single application deadline and adopting holistic reviews for all applicants. Despite these efforts, the UC system remains less diverse than before the decision. California’s story shows both the harms of eliminating affirmative action and the need for a comprehensive agenda and engagement from all stakeholders to continue progress.

[i]Higher education coordinating agencies, also commonly referred to state education commissions or state councils, are agencies that provide oversight on the higher education institutions within their states.

[ii]The U.S. Department of Education released related information in 2023 on strategies to support diversity and opportunity in higher education. See: “Strategies For Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education,” U.S. Department of Education Office of the Under Secretary, September 2023. https://sites.ed.gov/ous/files/2023/09/Diversity-and-Opportunity-in-Higher-Education.pdf.

[iii]“Inclusive excellence, across the UC experience.” The University of California Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. https://diversity.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/mission.html#:~:text=Inclusive%20excellence%2C%20across%20the%20UC,core%20of%20UC’s%20diversity%20mission.

[iv]Bleemer, Zachary. “Affirmative Action, Mismatch, and Economic Mobility After California’s Proposition 209,” University of California Berkley Center for Studies in Higher Education. August 2020. https://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/publications/rops.cshe.10.2020.bleemer.prop209.8.20.2020_2.pdf.