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Inequality is one of the most enduring features of our nations higher education system. Racial/ethnic and class-based disparities in college access, enrollment, and completion persist despite years of programmatic and policy efforts to counteract them Though it is true that racially minoritized and low-income students are more likely to enroll in some form of postsecondary education than in years past, their likelihood of completing a bachelor s degree once enrolled in college falls far below that of their white and economically privileged counterparts (Carnevale and Strohí 2013; Perna and Finney 2014). The differences in college enrollment and college completion among historically marginalized and white and affluent populations have widened (Witham et al. 2015), suggesting that postsecondary education remains "separate and unequal" (Carnevale and Strahl 2013). Clearly, American higher education has an equity problem
AN INCREASED FOCUS ON EQUITY
The silver lining to this situation is that policymakers and institutional leaders increasingly recognize the urgent need to focus their efforts and resources on creating equity in higher education. Several states have acknowledged the need to make their higher education systems more equitable for African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, low-income students, and other historically marginalized populations. For example, California has spent nearly $400 million to fund student equity efforts at the states community colleges over the past three years. To receive the funding, each of California's 113 community colleges was required to develop a detailed student equity plan in which they presented institutional data for key outcomes, identified which demographic groups were experiencing inequities, set goals for closing those equity gaps, and proposed specific activities to reach those goals.
Higher education organizations and private foundations also play an important role in creating equitable outcomes by undertaking initiatives aimed at informing equity-focused policy and practice. In 2015, for example, the Lumina Foundation and the Center for Urban Education (CUE) began a partnership to increase the number of states that incorporate closing equity gaps into their policy goals. AAC&Us Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence project, funded by Strada and Great Lakes, provides a model of how higher education associations and private foundations might partner to guide the design and implementation of institutional equity efforts. As discussed in this issue of Peer Review, thirteen institutions with diverse missions and...