New minority enrollment is up at Florida community colleges, even as it drops at some 4-year schools. Educators wonder if there is a connection.
By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 17, 2005
In her best-case scenario, Rodericka Riley would be spending her freshman year at Spelman College in Atlanta.
But Riley's parents couldn't afford to send her to the prestigious private college for black women. She looked instead at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
Then she added the cost of room and board to tuition and realized even an in-state school was too expensive.
So when a local business offered her a full scholarship to St. Petersburg College, she changed her mind about attending a large university and enrolled at SPC.
"They accepted me on the spot," said Riley, a St. Petersburg High School graduate who is the first in her family to go to college. "They even waived my application fee."
The 18-year-old's experience may shed light on why six of Florida's 11 public universities reported a drop in black freshman enrollment this fall despite an increase in freshmen enrollment statewide.
Unable to afford state universities, students from low-income families - many of them African-American - are being courted by community colleges that have forged ties with groups that offer minority scholarships.
Many, like Riley, are being won over. That's one theory being discussed by educators who are at a loss to explain why the number of black university freshmen dropped by 2 percent this year. The decline was especially pronounced at the University of South Florida, where the drop was almost 15 percent.
The role of Florida's 28 community colleges in the decline was reinforced Friday by Education Commissioner John Winn and community college chancellor David Armstrong, who announced a 19.9 percent increase in black enrollment in the community college system in the past five years.
The two-year schools have initiated several programs that target traditionally underserved populations, including African-Americans. The schools also have received support from private foundations, such as the Lumina Foundation for Education, to provide financial assistance to students who may not have gone to college otherwise.
"Community colleges give students access," said Kathy Torian, Armstrong's assistant. "That level of access and affordability was the whole reason the community college system was created."
None of the state's three research universities - Florida State, the University of Florida or USF - was aware of the community college enrollment figures. But all suffered declines this fall, and all agree it's possible they are losing black freshmen to the two-year schools.
"It may not be only an economic issue," said Jim Mallach, an interim vice president for enrollment at USF. "I think it's true that some students might be more comfortable in a community college for a year or two."
Fall enrollment figures for black freshmen were not available from Hillsborough Community College. But officials at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville reported their black freshman enrollment increased 20 percent over last year.
One reason for the school's success could be its focus on traditionally underrepresented groups, including black students, said Elizabeth Oreggio, director of the school's office of diversity.
"We offer them an edge so they can have a smoother transition from high school," Oreggio said. "We look at their long-range goals, but we also ask about their expectations for the semester."
At nearby UF, president Bernie Machen said he is unsure what is behind the decline. He said he suspects one reason is the reluctance of some parents to take out loans, especially those whose children are first in their family to attend college.
"Even though some of these families would be eligible for a loan, it is not part of their family structure to borrow money," he said. "The students either go to a local community college or they don't go to college."
Estimating that it costs about $12,000 a year to attend UF even if a student has a Bright Futures scholarship, Machen has committed $1-million to an Opportunity Scholarship program to help students with room and board and miscellaneous expenses.
Officials at FSU are considering similar incentives to attract black freshmen, though John Barnhill, director of admissions and records, said the school's 0.4 percent drop in black freshmen enrollment is not cause for alarm.
Still, Barnhill said, the fact that black freshmen enrollment is down at six schools could signal a trend.
"We try to make contact with every minority student in the state," he said. "Certainly our state schools and probably our community colleges are reaching out more to minority students than ever before. That's why it's so distressing when you see numbers going down."
But numbers for black student enrollment are up at nearby Tallahassee Community College. Spokeswoman Alice Maxwell said 28 percent of TCC's students are black, the largest number of any community college in the state.
And this year, the school posted a 10.7 percent increase in black student enrollment.
Some, including Machen, say they wonder about the possible impact of One Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush's 1999 executive order that ended the use of race as a factor in university admissions.
While Hispanic and Asian enrollment has risen since One Florida went into effect, black freshmen enrollment has declined, slipping from 17.6 percent in 1999 to 14.1 percent this year.
A Bush spokesman has denied that One Florida had any impact on this year's decline. The governor said: "Florida's universities deserve recognition for recruiting the best and the brightest from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds."
Community colleges also adhere to One Florida, but they operate under an "open door" admissions policy and do not have the option of turning qualified students away.
In the long run, what draws a student to one school over another might have more to do with comfort level than anything else. Four weeks into college life, Riley, the recent high school graduate, says she's happy at SPC.
"I wanted to go to Spelman because I thought it would be a good experience to go to a prestigious black college," she said. "But I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything."
Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
