<em>Increasing Educational Attainment among Urban Minority Youth: A Model of University, School, and Community Partnerships</em>

Abstract

This article discusses the educational attainment status of racial and ethnic minorities, specifically African Americans and Hispanics as compared to their Caucasian peers. In addition, the authors describe the U.S. Department of Education's educational initiative, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) that is designed to improve educational equity and increase access on the part of low-income and underrepresented minorities into institutions of higher learning. The promise of this educational initiative is illustrated with a case study of the Yale University GEAR UP Partnership Project.Keywords: higher education, educational attainment, college access programs, low-income youth, GEAR UPNadia L. Ward Yale UniversityMichael J. Strambler Yale UniversityLance H. Linke Yale UniversityIntroductionResearch suggests that educational attainment beyond high school is associated with higher median earnings for young adults (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2008), sustained employment (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2004), increased civic engagement (Finlay & Flanagan, 2009), decreased involvement in delinquent behavior (Lochner & Moretti, 2004; Nally, Lockwood, Knutson & Ho, 2012) and better health outcomes (Cutler & Lleras-Muney, 2006). However, student enrollment rates among low-income and minority youth into institutions of higher learning continue to lag behind their non-minority peers. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2007), 50 % of low-income students enroll in college immediately after high school, compared with 80 % of students from high income backgrounds.Ethnic differences in high school graduation rates are also troubling. Calculating such rates have been notoriously difficult to accomplish as reports of graduation rates among minority students have ranged from 50 to 85 %. However, rigorous analyses that account for biases in such data suggest that 65 % of African Americans and Hispanics leave high school with a diploma (Heckman & LaFontaine, 2007). Moreover, this research indicates that this gap has largely remained constant over the past 35 years. In terms of college completion rates, data show that more students across the aforementioned racial or ethnic groups have completed college during the past four decades; however, the gap between Caucasians and African Americans has widened as well as the gap between Caucasians and Hispanics since 1971. In 2011, 39% of Caucasian 25- to 29year-olds completed a bachelor's degree or higher, as compared to 20% of African Americans and 13% of Hispanics. In 1975, those figures were 15%, 6% and 6%, respectively (Aud et al., 2011).In addition to marked differences in college completion rates between African American and Hispanic students as compared to Caucasian students, African American and Hispanic students require more time to complete an undergraduate degree than their Caucasian peers (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Persistently low academic performance, graduation rates, college enrollment and completion rates among African American students negatively impact their ability to successfully transition into the world of work (Feliciano & Ashtiani, 2012). Therefore, efforts to recruit retain and graduate African American youth from institutions of higher learning requires that schools establish a 'college-going culture' at primary and secondary levels (Gulatt & Jan, 2003; Stillisano, Brown, Alford, & Waxman, 2013).Urban school districts face particular challenges in educating low-income and minority youth. The effects of poverty (Feliciano & Ashtiani, 2012; McLoyd, 1998; Perry & McConney, 2010), limited social capital resources (Gordon, 1999) and low parental educational attainment can severely thwart the educational trajectory of urban youth. Despite low college enrollment and graduation rates four-year institutions of higher education on the part of African American and Hispanic students, this trend is not reflective of their early aspirations. …