EXPERT EYE EDUCATION
Intentionally Combatting the Higher Education Gap As a passionate advocate for dismantling systemic racism in the US education system, educational consultant Sydney Montgomery discusses disrupting the professional landscape Written by: Sydney Montgomery, CEO of S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting
A
s much as we want to say we are doing things to address the higher education gap in this country, the reality remains that we continue to look at this issue through such a narrow lens that the solutions we continually deploy fail to make meaningful change. A 2020 Education Trust report showed that since 2000, Black enrollment at the 101 most selective colleges and universities decreased by 60 percent. The report further shows only nine percent of the 101 selective colleges enroll representative numbers of Black students and only 14 percent of those same colleges enroll representative numbers of Latinx students. Most disturbingly, in states that had the largest Black populations, those colleges had the least accessible colleges and universities. 8 | North America Outlook issue 08
Equitable education begins before high school Equitable access to higher education is integral to the discussion of upward mobility and wealth and income disparities in this country. Education is one of the centerpieces and gears perpetuating structural racism. However, in order to have equitable access to higher education, students need to have equitable preparation in their elementary and secondary schools in order to level the playing field. Without rebalancing at the elementary and secondary schools, some students will end up being placed into an elite education pipeline at the age of five. One of the greatest disparities in elementary and secondary schooling is private school enrollment. Black
students account for 9.3 percent of all private school students. By comparison, White students account for 67 percent of all private school students. Of private schools that enrolled at least 750 students, Black students make up only six percent of the private school population. In fact, the rise of private schools in this country can be directly correlated to White parents pulling their students out of public school in response to desegregation efforts in the early 20th century. As it stands, private
