This qualitative case study of a Southern California community college dance program explored structural/administrative and social/cultural barriers faced by faculty and students who plan to transfer to university dance programs that require an audition for admission. Interviews with faculty (n = 4) and recent alumni (n = 6) were analyzed with…

With a decision pending in two lawsuits challenging race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), many observers are predicting that the US Supreme Court will significantly limit, if not completely prohibit, the use of race in college and university admissions. However if the United…

This study explored the college access and choice processes of high-achieving African American students who were admitted to University of California (UC) campuses but elected to enroll elsewhere. Employing critical race theory as an interpretive framework, the study found that many of these students were denied access to their priority UC…

Each year, the state of California spends billions of dollars on funding for the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and California Community Colleges (CCC). Those dollars are invested to ensure all California residents have an opportunity to gain the skills and education they need to participate in and advance the…

This essay discusses the contentious events leading to the decision by the University of California's Board of Regents to end affirmative action in admissions, hiring and contracting at the university in July 1995. This controversial decision provided momentum for California's passage of Proposition 209 the following year ending "racial…

Charter schools are a popular option in school choice reform. Parents often choose to enroll their children in charter schools because they are disenchanted with traditional public schools. Many charter schools are independent from local school districts and promise to be innovative when implementing their curriculum. Despite charter schools'…

This article investigates the role of autoethnographic research as the methodological tool of choice for a Chicana who positions herself along the liminal perspective. I posit that "testimonios", autobiographical educational experiences, must be used as valid ethnographic research to contribute to existing knowledge around issues of…

While colleges and legal analysts are focusing on what to do in the post-Hopwood world, some of us are still asking whether a move away from affirmative action was a prudent move from the beginning. Is it fair for society to move away from supporting students who have not had an equitable chance at the educational brass ring just because, in most…

This paper describes the college admission process through the conceptual lens of Dickason's (2001) phases of affirmative action. The first phase, obligatory affirmative action, describes the history of affirmative action and the impact on college admission. The second phase, voluntary affirmative action, describes University of West Florida's…

The effectiveness of institutional, state, and federal efforts to expand educational participation in California is examined in this third of a three-report series on equal opportunity in California postsecondary education. The purposes of this report are to: (1) review the progress made during the past five years, (2) identify the barriers to…