When the Department of Education announced in March that they would investigate admissions practices at 50 of the nation’s elite colleges and universities, it declared that school equity, diversity and inclusion policies exclude qualified White and Asian college-bound students from campus.
Implied but not stated in the directive, experts say, is an assumption that other minority high school seniors who’ve earned seats at top schools probably don’t deserve them — especially if they’re Black.
For Black students, who often have to fight uphill battles just to get accepted into America’s top universities, the assumption that admissions standards have been lowered just for the sake of diversity is not just harmful but false. That’s because the number of Black high school graduates has ticked up in recent years, along with the percentage of Black students who qualify for admission to elite institutions of higher education.
“We see time and time again that whenever forward progress is made in addressing systemic challenges, there’s a backlash,” says Dr. Alaina Harper, a college admissions expert and executive director at OneGoal in New York, a nonprofit organization that helps high school students of color pursue their postsecondary aspirations. “The idea that standards must be lowered for our students to succeed is highly inaccurate.”
Recognizing graduation gains
In recent years, Black students have made steady progress in high school graduation rates. In the 2010-11 academic year, around 74% of Black public high school students graduated on time, but within a decade the percentage had climbed to 81, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
The 7-point gain is the largest improvement among any racial group over the same time frame, yet critics continue to suggest it’s due to “softened” academic standards, not hard work. But experts point to schools in majority-Black cities and districts that have invested in new approaches to teaching and learning — not shortcuts.
For example, the public school system in Atlanta, where more than 70% of students are Black, has a graduation rate of 86.2%. In suburban Dallas’ DeSoto Independent School District, which is predominantly Black, the graduation rate is around 93.2% . The school district in Prince George’s County, Maryland, whose population is majority Black, had a graduation rate of 84.7 percent.
None of those districts lowered standards to get there, Harper says. They added support. “It’s not that our Black students lack potential,” Harper says. “It’s that they lack access. The support and opportunities available to them are not equally distributed.”
Deeper than DEI
Improved high school graduation rates notwithstanding, Black students are still significantly underrepresented on college campuses. In 2022, just 36% of Black 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college; since 2010, Black college enrollment has declined 23% according to the Postsecondary National Policy Institute.
Harper says that many Black students never get the chance to fully pursue their goals due to a lack of resources and funding in K-12 schools to guide them.
“We’re more likely to see Black students in schools with limited access to college and career instruction, or academically rigorous coursework,” Harper says. “They also face financial barriers that make college feel out of reach.”
Data tells part of the story. According to the nonprofit Education Trust, predominantly Black K-12 public-school districts receive $2,200 less per student than majority-White districts. That funding gap plays out in fewer counselors, outdated textbooks, and less access to advanced coursework — all of which weaken college readiness.
The stereotype threat
Even when Black students beat the odds and make it to elite colleges, doubt is never far behind. The common assumption among some white professors, classmates, or school officials — that a Black student on campus got there because of preference, not performance — adds a psychological burden, especially in predominantly-white, academically competitive spaces.
“We cannot let our young people internalize the message that they don’t belong,” Harper says. “When students constantly feel like they have to prove they earned their spot, it’s exhausting and unfair.”
Adding an extra layer of stress is what social psychologist Claude Steele calls “stereotype threat”: the fear of confirming racial stereotypes, an anxiety which can undermine academic performance. In highly-regarded, predominantly white schools already short on support for Black students, the emotional toll can become even heavier.
Reframing the conversation
As the Trump administration’s anti-diversity rhetoric escalates, Harper says, it’s time for higher-education institutes to ask more incisive questions — not about who’s getting ahead, but about who’s being left behind.
“We need scalable, evidence-based solutions that work for all students,” she says. “That means integrating postsecondary advising into the school day, simplifying financial aid, and closing affordability gaps.”
With college access shrinking and resources dwindling in Black-majority schools, Harper says we should stop asking whether students deserve opportunity and start asking why they keep being denied it.
“This narrative around who gets what and who deserves what — it’s not helping anyone,” she says. “We should be focused on whether every student can access a career, earn a family-sustaining wage, and build a future they can see themselves in.”
This article was originally published by Word in Black. For more information, visit www.wordinblack.com.