Have College Desegregation Policies Threatened Black Student Enrollment and Black Colleges?--An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Desegregation and equality of opportunity for students in higher education were greatly encouraged by the 1965 Higher Education Act and the 1973 Adams decision.1 The Higher Education Act made available the Basic Education Opportunity Grant (BEOG) and a variety of other financial aid programs for disadvantaged students. These programs greatly increased minority enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities. In 1970, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) filed a complaint that the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) was not enforcing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act against states that operated dual, segregated public systems of higher education. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits the allocation of Federal funds to segregated public schools. In July 1977, after extensive legal debate, court guidelines were formulated that required defaulting states to submit desegregation plans in compliance with Title VI and other guidelines specified in Adams. Various features of the Adams plan have been criticized. For