Friday June 30, 2023
ANALYSIS: Income inequality, not a bad decision on Affirmative Action, is the real problem | Fourth of July Events |
ANALYSIS - SCOTUS got it wrong on Affirmative Action
But it’s income inequality, not the end of Affirmative Action, that's holding minorities back in Virginia higher ed
by Martin Davis
The war against Affirmative Action came to an end Thursday, when the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to end the practice, which was designed to enable colleges to use race as a deciding factor in college admissions.
“There may have been a time 50 years ago when we needed to affirmatively take steps to correct long-term racial bias in institutions of higher education,” former Vice President Mike Pence told Dasha Burns of MSNBC. “But I can tell you, as the father of three college graduates, those days are long over.” (What Pence’s three white children teach us about long-term racial bias in colleges is a puzzling question beyond the scope of this publication.)
This is the argument conservatives have been making for at least two decades. And if the measure is the sort of overt racism that was practiced in America - and in particular Virginia - in the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, and into the ‘70s, I would yield the point.
But access to higher education is not equal.
The problem today, however, isn’t Jim Crow or actively blocking Black students at the university admissions’ office. It’s income inequality, which disproportionately affects minorities.
Virginia’s colleges and universities are not immune from this problem. And the University of Mary Washington in particular is failing in this area.
Before drilling into income inequality and its effect on minorities and their shot at a college education, however, let’s step back and look at income inequality from a broader perspective.
The Disturbing Reality of Economic Inequality in the U.S.
The reality of economic disparity in the United States is not up for debate. The conservative leaning American Compass has made finding solutions grounded in conservative economic policies its core mission. (AC has been criticized by watchdog groups like Influence Watch, itself a conservative organization funded by Capital Research Center.)
Its findings about the depth of the problem are unsettling, to say the least.
In a 2021 report “A Guide to Economic Inequality” AC found that:
American inequality has been rising steadily for 50 years and is at its highest point of the post-World War II era. Inequality is higher in the U.S. than in any other developed country—closer to the level of Mexico or Costa Rica than to the OECD median.
And the problem is accelerating. Consider the massive transfer of wealth that has occurred over the past 30 years to the wealthiest Americans.
According to AC, the top-quintile (or top 20%) of homes) gained almost “$500,000 in liquid net worth on average (after excluding the top 1%), while households in the middle quintile saw their debt rise faster than their financial assets.”
If you doubt AC, then how about the Rand Corporation, which in a May 2023 essay noted:
The median Black household in America has around $24,000 in savings, investments, home equity, and other elements of wealth. The median White household: around $189,000, a disparity that has worsened in recent decades.
And that’s just the lead paragraph.
Pedro Nascimento de Lima, who coauthored the study, said: “The magnitude of the disparity is just mind-blowing. In 200 years, we could still have problems with racial wealth disparities that are equal to, or worse than, the problems we have today.”
Editor’s Note - We highly recommend reading both the AC and the Rand Corporation studies in full.
Or if you doubt those sources, try The Economist - hardly a bastion a liberal thinkers. In a 2019 article, it reported:
in 1962, two years before the passage of landmark civil-rights legislation and the Great Society programme, the average wealth of white households was seven times greater than that of black households. Yet after decades of declining discrimination and the construction of a modern welfare state, that ratio remains the same. The mean of black household wealth is $138,200—for whites, that number is $933,700.
These kinds of inequalities are the direct result of America’s long history of denying minorities, and Blacks in particular, an equal shot at rising above their existing circumstances.
And it’s negatively affecting the chance minority students in particular, and any student living in poverty, have of earning a college degree in Virginia.
Access to higher education in Virginia is affirmatively being denied
If income inequality is at historic highs, then it should come as no surprise that the escalating cost of higher education in Virginia is making it harder for those without great financial resources to gain the credentials they need to create better lives for themselves and their families.
As the following chart from the Peterson Foundation shows, Black American households on average trail far behind the households of whites and Asians, and significantly below Hispanic households.
This lack of wealth makes accessing higher education particularly problematic for poor students - of any race.
A 2022 report by the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia addressed two reports that had been released by Education Reform Now that were highly critical of the inequality baked into Virginia’s higher-ed system.
One of the reports, “Scratching the Surface: De Facto Racial & Economic Segregation in Virginia Higher Education,” says of the Commonwealth’s inability to serve its poor population adequately:
Virginia has the 7th highest postsecondary degree attainment rate in the country, mainly reflected in Northern Virginia’s population as well as that around Richmond and Hampton Roads, but the fact is a majority of Virginia’s four-year colleges and universities underserve the state’s population of Black and Hispanic high school graduates who constitute one-third of the Commonwealth’s public high school graduates.1 The best resourced institutions effectively shut out talented students of all races from working class and low-income families. In fact, Virginia accounts for one-third of the 15 worst public colleges and universities in the country when it comes to working class and low-income student enrollment.
In short, Virginia isn’t just bad at making a public college education available to students, it’s epically bad. So bad that this quote bears repeating:
Virginia accounts for one-third of the 15 worst public colleges and universities in the country when it comes to working class and low-income student enrollment.
The second report, “Higher Education School Finance Inequity and Inadequacy in Virginia,” makes clear that the state’s funding mechanisms for higher education are at the heart of the problem.
Even with a significant increase in state investment for the most recent fiscal year, public support for Virginia higher education has not kept up with rising costs and an expanded pool of students, leading to not just higher tuition and fees for students and families, but some of the highest tuition and fee levels in the country and ever rising student loan debt, particularly for working-class, low-income, and racial minority students.
The findings in the report are damning.
Wealthy, public four-year colleges like William & Mary receive more state funding per student annually than Old Dominion and George Mason, which serve a much more racially and socioeconomically diverse student body.
More students from upper-income families earning over $100,000 a year benefit from Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant than students from hard-pressed middle-income families with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000. In fact, through VTAG each year, approximately $10 million in Virginia college financial aid goes to families with zero demonstrated financial need.
And perhaps the most damning finding of all:
Liberty University, which is arguably one of the worst nonprofit private colleges in the country for poor and minority students in terms of affordability and completion, is the largest recipient of VTAG funding by a factor of four. Liberty University alone received almost $17 million in VTAG funds in 2019 (25% of the total VTAG funds Virginia dispensed to undergraduates) despite having a Black student graduation rate of just 17%.
Things are no better at home.
In its 2021 State of the Commonwealth Report, the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University shone light on just how bad a job Virginia’s colleges and universities are doing in serving the needs of low-income students.
Looking at sticker prices, net prices, and student income percentiles for 2018-2019, the report found that the University of Mary Washington was the second-worst four-year university in the state for the percentage of its student body that comes from the lowest quintile households. Just 1.27%
The worst offender? Washington & Lee, a private institution, at 1.17%.
We need a new direction
The anger being directed today in Virginia against critical race theory; against programs such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and against systemic racism is misguided at best. It’s intentionally deceptive at worst.
The evidence that minorities and the poor do not have an equal shot at wealth-building in Virginia is difficult to dismiss.
Call it systemic racism (and there’s a strong case to be made that’s exactly what it is), call it what you will. But it’s time to address the problems.
The two reports from Education Reform Now have solid policy decisions that we can begin working to implement now. We know what we need to do.
Yes, the Supreme Court made an epically bad decision on Thursday.
But that’s not what’s preventing minorities and those in poverty from getting a leg up on life, and building wealth for their families.
Very real funding issues with Virginia colleges are doing that right now.
We can fix that. And we must.
Fourth of July
There are lots of interesting events happening this Fourth. Here are two in the city worth attending.
Want to share your events? Send an email to the editor. We’ll get it in.
Story Time & Family Fun | Rising Sun Tavern
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
11:30 am and 1:30 pm
Join us on the lawn behind the Rising Sun Tavern as costumed interpreters will read children’s books on the American Revolution and this historic day in our nation’s history. Bring the family for face painting and additional fun activities themed around the Fourth of July. This family event is free and open to the public. Tours are available at standard admission prices.
Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence | Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm
Join WHM on the steps of the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop as we celebrate our independence with a live reading of the Declaration of Independence. This is a moving experience you won’t want to miss! This event is free and open to the public. Tours are available at standard admission rates.