Thesis Statement: CUNY students state that even after Open Admissions was issued there was a major lack of minorities accepted. I disagree because CUNY Admissions created SEEK programs and more openings for colleges which targeted minorities to better their education.
What must we do within our report:
- Introduction– talk more about what students feel about diversity in CUNY or elsewhere– Rebecca, Jalysa, Fathima
- SEEK PROGRAMS– bring up statistic about 16000→ 44000 *why does this matter to current reader– Anabel, Prince, Jessica, Estefania, Reina
- Financial climate during 1970s– Katarina, Guevara, Christian, Max, Porshe
- How did admissions to CUNY better their education, quality of life- Johnnie, Nieve, Erick, Israel, Saul, Aktia, Pende, Yarielid
- More schools having open admissions– created more opportunities- Mentor, Joel
4. How did admissions to CUNY better their education, quality of life
Admissions to CUNY bettered the education and overall quality of life of minorities through the use of SEEK programs and increased openings of colleges. Students in need both financially and academically, received the opportunity of higher education which gives them a chance in receiving a high paying job versus the odds of not attending a college at all. The minority group faces many issues which include exploitation due to the power structure in their environment, entrance requirements, and selection process to the orientation programs available in colleges. All of which contribute to a poor quality of life where the quality is dependent on the level of education one receives. A fair chance is emphasized in making students feel comfortable within their college experience to eliminate the racial stigma. This not only provides the security in ones environment, but also a safe place where minority students can excel in their efforts of progressing in a educational institutionalized system where they are set up for failure from the very beginning.
I enjoyed reading your post on how CUNY has bettered the education of minorities. I am actually a recently transferred student. I can speak about the fact that it did help me out financially. I went to a private school but as it was getting expensive, I transferred to Lehman to further/finish my education without the financial burden.
New York City is known to be one of the most diverse cities in the world. However, just a couple decades ago it wasn’t as diverse as it is today, especially in CUNY schools. Before the 1970s, CUNY schools were made up of mostly white and Asian students while New York residents were mostly black and Latinos. Therefore, there was a clear disparity between races in CUNY schools. However, when a group of black and Puerto Ricans protested for equal admission opportunities in 1969 at City College, a spark was created which led to CUNY Open Admissions. CUNY students state that even after Open Admissions was issued there was a major lack of minorities accepted. However, CUNY Admissions created SEEK programs and more openings for colleges white targeted minorities to better their education.
According to New York Times, CUNY Open Admission movement benefits were discussed in two ways. One, the Admission helped improve cultural diversity in CUNY colleges. Compared to the earlier years before the campaign, Black and Latino communities were the minority representing less than 15 per cent in the CUNY college while white student body was made up of 87 per cent of the entire student population. It was also argued that due to the Open Admission majority the programs improved education status of the minority. For example, the number of Black students went up from 16,529 to 44,031. Similarly, better education translated into good employment opportunities and better wages. Two, CUNY Open Admission also affected schools and graduation percentage. The system implemented programs such as SEEK that guaranteed students a seat in at least a community colleges.
High education leads to well being life, this is one of the main goals that pursues the department of education CUNY. . According to New York times, the CUNY Open Admission movement ensures that many students get the opportunity to attend college. As good wage jobs require at least college diploma, the efficiency of the CUNY Open Admission’s mission will probably help poor students to graduate in college and get better jobs. Also, the “Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge, known as SEEK’s” program argues that “Participating colleges were supposed to recruit economically and educationally disadvantaged students, admit them to the student body, and provide them with counseling and compensatory education” The expansion of financial aid to poor student makes them to possibly enroll for college as middle class students do. The chance disadvantaged student got through CUNY Open Admission to attend college with others render them socially comfortable that Johnson administration called “great society” in 1960.
Open admissions were a definitive advantage for minorities within the New York City area that were looking for higher education within their community. Unfortunately, the timing for such progressive change was during fiscal instability. A great inflation was occurring with capitalism, sputtering and trying to grasp onto its laurels while the stock market plummeted a staggering 40%. Moreover, with New York City being one of the greatest cities in the world, it would be naive to believe it was not affected whatsoever. Within this time came the establishment of open admissions, giving those without many resources a seat within the privileged setting of higher education, along with SEEK. Even on unstable legs open admissions, an advantageous event which would be later revoked in accordance with our unstable financial infrastructure, was still a step in the right direction.
In the mid-1970s, due to a fiscal crisis, the SEEK program’s funding did not last long and was cut back. The lower class communities had to pay tuition, even though they were granted to get support by SEEK. The majority of the white population went to the CUNY schools, while most African American and Puerto Ricans had adverse education. Plus, the majority of the white population had a middle class or upper class income at that time, while most of the African American and Puerto Rican communities had a tuition that was too low to pay for college. The “pay wall” made it more difficult for the struggling communities, because most of them had to pay to a point where they could go bankrupt. Therefore, everyone had to pay tuition, and the one’s who were less wealthy were less likely to go to a CUNY school.
Hello Max’
It is was a sad situation to see people of color struggling back then to get educated because of the level of their income. Thankfully today the SEEK ( Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge) program makes it possible to people of color to achieve a higher educational program. Actually the SEEK program provides academic and financial support to students who qualify based on the specific income and academic criteria. It is a well organized program that positively impact the students qualified and enrolled in the program. The SEEK faculty and staff are committed to helping students successfully meet the challenges of college and to supporting both their academic and personal development. According to Rings, S ( College of Staten Island), since its inception the SEEK program has enrolled nearly 230,000 low-income students; most of these students would not have had the opportunity to earn a college degree
According to the New York times, the Cuny open admission has helped numerous black and Puerto Rican’s gained admission into Cuny colleges. I agree it has numerous people from these groups to gain admissions because with the program like Seek and discovery at least allow each child in high school a seat in a community college. The amount of black people that entered college jumped from 16,529 to 44,031 while for Puerto Rican’s the jump was from 4,723 to 13,563, this happens because of the Cuny open admissions.
According to the New York times, Cuny open admission has benefited many blacks and Puerto Rican’s to get admission into Cuny. By Cuny new policy it gave the minorities (blacks and Hispanics) a chance to get better jobs if they finished there education at a Cuny: college. Additionally, cuny better their education because it was more diverse in it’s students; however, according to reports less people didn’t finish because of the Cuny open admission policy.
The diversity presented in City Universities of New York (CUNY) is raising the roof today. However, this wasn’t always the case. Prior to 1970, CUNY school’s primarily consisted of White and Asian students. Due to this, Blacks and Puerto Rican students created a movement in 1969. The movement was titled “CUNY Open Admissions” to expand equal opportunities for minority students. CUNY students state that even after Open Admissions was issued there was a major lack of minorities accepted. I disagree because CUNY Admissions created SEEK programs and more openings for colleges which targeted minorities to better their education.
Hello Gnogna,
I agree with you that the SEEK program did more good than harm to the students of color (African-Americans and Hispanics). Its primary mission is to assist in providing equality of higher education opportunity to students who otherwise would not have such access. Since its creation the number of enrolled students of color into the CUNY colleges has considerably increased. The SEEK program has helped selected students with specifically defined educational and economic needs to achieve a high quality college education and also expand their social and career capabilities alongside achieving .
When SEEK first started “The amount of black people that entered college jumped from 16,529 to 44,031 while for Puerto Rican’s the jump was from 4,723 to 13,563, this happens because of the Cuny open admissions”. This means that SEEK helped Black and Puerto Rican people find a better way to attend college while being in a background of less income. In SEEK you get the resources needed so you can improve in your studies. So you can have those same opportunities to go to college although you come from low income or haven’t done good in college.
Hello Anabel,
The SEEK program is definitely a great higher education opportunity for people of color especially African Americans and Hispanics. Some awards that benefit SEEK students are the Gates Millennium Scholarship Award, the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, the Mellon Minority Fellowship, and other national , state-wide, and local awards.
According to the New York times, the CUNY open admission has benefited many black and Puerto Rican’s to get into CUNY colleges. For example, “The draw a cheaper tuition, especially after the Great Recession, has brought families who have benefited from better school systems and better education funding outside of New York City”. This quote means that the CUNY policy gave a chance color of people and Puerto Rican’s to get better education with a cheaper tuition because the school systems became better. I agree because the people can achieve admissions and get accepted to CUNY colleges. This is a great opportunity for them to get better education in CUNY colleges, so they will get better jobs in the future.
5. More schools having open admissions- created more opportunities
The CUNY open admissions policies of the 1970s gave many students the opportunity to pursue a higher career that were not previously available. Many students who were previously academically or financially held back were now given a chance to go to college, something that many of these students never could have imagined. The minority groups were the ones who benefited the most from these policies as they only composed 15% of the college population at the time even though this group made up 52% of the high school graduates. Today it is clear in these campuses there is a more diverse group. Besides the many CUNY schools that opened in the 1960s and 1970s including: BMCC, John Jay, Baruch, LaGuardia, Hostos, etc, the most crucial program that gave more opportunities was the SEEK program. The SEEK program made students who are economically and educationally disadvantaged eligible for admission and also provided opportunities for GED students. Later on, TAP was a crucial financial program that help funded students financial needs in order for them to attend CUNY colleges. It is clear that opportunities is something that we now have today due to the struggles of past disowned students who wanted change.
The 1970’s saw the end of postwar prosperity in industrialized nations, and the beginning of economic hardships that would pepper the later half of the twentieth century. The United States suffered a recession, due mostly in part to the OPEC oil crisis of 1973. New York felt the economic strain just as much as any major city. For CUNY students, that meant cutting funding for SEEK, the programs dedicated to preparing the most underprivileged and poorest students. In 1976, in the midst of a citywide fiscal crisis, New York City made the decision to begin charging tuition in CUNY schools. Between that and SEEK being decimated, the strain on underprivileged students increased exponentially.
3. Financial Climate during the 1970’s
The 1970’s economy was falling apart due to the policies and situation during that time. The economic growth was weak and because of that, there was a rise in the unemployment rate which helped cause a great inflation. This happened because in general, the inflation policies of the 70’s were weak until the 80’s where new policies were established. The unemployment rate continued to rise due to the massive amount of soldiers returning from the Vietnam war. Some of the inflation was blamed on the oil embargo that happened due to Richard Nixon taking the dollar off the gold standard but I digress. All of this is relevant due to it contributing to a massive inflation which then affected the CUNY Admissions program. Nonetheless, the CUNY Admissions Program still helped students better their education.
The seek program was created to help the minorities that need extra helps. Seek offer smaller class and personal counseling to keep the students on task. Seek is Comparable to programs such as EOP and HEOP were also part of private colleges. Bring up statistic about 16000-44000 does this matter to current reader because showing a change in the college society and it was bring more helps to minority that needed the helps. Seek was bring new resource to helps the students needs books, counseling and financial assistance. Also, I believe that by this time 1970s getting help from a program like seek that offer students a variety of academic support services to get better in their basic skills, getting tutoring for minority students it was like heaven because they really needed the helps to be able to graduate from college.
The SEEK program was a feature implemented by open admissions institutions with the purpose of allowing every child in High School to have the opportunity to go to college, regardless of how prepared they were to attend college. Statistics showed that high school populations are 52% composed by minorities but only a 15% of college population are minorities. Because of this program the number of black people who entered college went from 16,529 to 44,031, there was also an increase in the Puerto Rican’s community entering college from 4,723 to 13,563 students. SEEK program helped minorities who were in financially and academically necessity in 1969 and this still affects students in 2018 because it gives a fair chance for minorities to expand their education in college.
Hi Estefania,
I like that fact that you add some numbers to support your main sentence. It also helped me learn more about the SEEK program.
From 1969 to present day the number of minority students accepted to CUNY colleges has risen to over 70%. That can safely be attributed to the Open Admissions policy at CUNY. This policy made it systematically possible for students of varied backgrounds to not only get into but succeed in these schools. But, CUNY students state that even after Open Admissions was issued there was a major lack of minorities accepted. I disagree because CUNY Admissions created SEEK programs and more openings for colleges which targeted minorities to better their education.
Hello Jalyssa,
The Open Admissions into CUNY Colleges to the students of low-income backgrounds definitely was a success. Not only it makes it possible to these financially and socially challenged students of color to achieve a higher quality education, it also creates diverse opportunities for them to overcome and stand the values of their cultures. Two major program SEEK and CD (College Discovery in 4 years Colleges) contribute greatly to the success of the Open Admissions.
Financial climate during 1970s
CUNY Open Admissions made it easier for minorities to get into college. This drastic change wasn’t always good. Even though CUNY open admissions was taking an increasing number of minorities in such little time, it was pushing NYC into bankruptcy. By 1975, there was a fiscal crisis which removed funding on SEEK program. This put another burden on the lower class because it limits how much money minority families can provide for school. The 1970’s, there was a recession also post World War II. This was damaging to the United States economic system. Since the US was hitting an economic crisis funding for programs especially programs for minorities were cut or underfunded.