High school students participate in Art 1 at Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif., Monday, May 1, 2017. (Photos by Alison Yin for EdSource)
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As high school seniors look ahead to college admissions, many are now having to weigh the impacts of the Trump administration on their prospective campuses — from culture to research opportunities, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“Honestly, before this year, I was thinking about out-of-state colleges, mostly historically Black colleges and universities. But the whole presidency and stuff has made me want to stay in California,” Mia Surratt, a senior at Berkeley High School, told the Chronicle. “I feel like people are more blatant about their racism. I’m feeling more safe where I’ve been.”
The students’ decision-making comes as the application window for the University of California and California State University systems opens from Oct. 1 to Dec. 1, and as the number of college applicants has increased nationwide.
But some things are looking different this year, in part because the Trump administration has withheld billions of dollars in research funding from universities, including UCLA, and pressured certain campuses to prohibit transgender athletes from accessing housing and playing on sports teams. Some campuses have also, according to the Chronicle, been pressured to maintain narrow definitions of “male” and “female.”
Students may also be applying to campuses that no longer publicly demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; others are concerned about the treatment of Muslim and Jewish students, the Chronicle reported.
This is also the first year that campuses will have to report the race and gender of each student who either applies or is admitted to a campus that obtains federal funding.
“We will not allow institutions to blight the dreams of students by presuming that their skin color matters more than their hard work and accomplishments,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Aug. 7, according to the Chronicle.
