Study links UC entry to social class

[L.A.dweller]

Study Links UC Entry, Social Class
High schools that send many graduates to UC are in affluent areas; low-income schools send fewer students, researchers find.

By Peter Y. Hong, Times Staff Writer

Social class has had more effect on whether a student will attend the University of California system than any other factor, including race, according to a new study of California high schools by UC Berkeley sociologists.

One of five students admitted to the UC system in 1999 came from 100 elite private and public schools, the study of California high schools found. By contrast, fewer than one out of 200 students who were admitted were from schools that had low-income and heavily minority student bodies.

The top "feeder" schools, which send the highest percentage of graduates to UC, are nearly all private and located in San Francisco or Los Angeles suburbs. Many of the schools in the state that send the fewest students to UC are in the Central Valley or in low-income urban areas of Los Angeles County.

It may be no surprise that wealthy students have educational advantages, but "what's surprising is how strong the association is" between affluence and UC admission, said Isaac Martin, a coauthor of the study with sociologist Jerome Karabel and Los Angeles lawyer Sean Jaquez.

more - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-feeder19nov19,1,156380.story

[QC]

1. Excellent post!

Class is real, but it's very hard to get anyone to talk about it. I can understand why conservatives prefer to ignore it, but it still puzzles me why liberals are every bit as scared of the subject.

[L.A.dweller]

2. Kick

bam

[bluestateguy]

3. We needed a study to prove this?

The high school I went to, in an affluent area, sent several dozen kids to UC schools. I was too naive to realize at the time that getting in to UC is much tougher for people who are out of state or from not so well to do areas.

[JI7]

4. isn't this common knowledge ?

the lower income areas need more funding for public education. the right wing says it's a failure, but not when you look at schools in higher income areas which get more money. the lower income schools should get more support which in turn would pay off in the long term. but some would just be happy these students go into the military. since you can't ask such a thing from the more affluent.

[L.A.dweller]

5. Yeah it is common knowledge.

I have never read a study on it though.

[QC]

6. Kick

:kick: