Minority Enrollment Declining, Study Finds

Higher education is becoming increasingly inaccessible for already under-represented minorities because of high dropout rates, more rigorous testing and admission standards, and reduced financial aid, according to a report to be released Friday by a national education lobby.

The status report is an annual project of the American Council on Education (ACE), a lobbying and research group supported by about 1700 colleges and universities.

Sarah Melendez, co-author of the study and director of ACE's Office of Minority Concerns, said yesterday that minority enrollment has been declining since 1980. She said the decline was spurred by a $6 million federal financial aid cut during the first year of the Reagan Administration and an 11.8 percent increase in college costs between 1978 and 1983.

The current report also cites "chronic underrepresentation of Blacks on faculties and administration in higher education."

As colleges move to raise standards, they "should not lose sight of the need for increased access and equity for minorities and the poor," said Melendez, who earned a doctorate at the Graduate School of Education.

Harvard officials said that Harvard does not completely conform to the national trends identified in the study.

"We continue to be able to meet the full need of all students admitted," said Janet L. Ironz, associate director of undergraduate financial aids.

Unlike other colleges, Harvard has implemented no recent changes in admissions policy, and the Admissions Office continues to make adjustments for students' socio-economic and educational handicaps, said Lisa Quiroz, co-director of minority recruitment.

However, only 59 of 714 Harvard professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences belong to minority groups, according to University Hall Statistics.