There are new calls for diversity at the University of Virginia where critics say the African American
population has dropped from 12 percent in 1995 to just 6 and a half percent today. Critics say UVA must up its financial aid to compete as Sandy Hausman reports.
The University of Virginia provides more than $40 million in financial aid, but Rector Helen Dragas has been talking about cutting back on spending, and that’s made some people nervous. Leah Puryear is with University and Community Action for Racial Equity or UCARE. She says the number of black students enrolling at UVA is down 25% from 1995 - comprising just 6 and a half percent of undergraduates.
“The students apply and are accepted, but we don’t get the yield when it’s time for them to come.”
She says other schools are outbidding Virginia to attract good, African-American students, and UVA should be upping its offers - especially with the governor calling for 100,000 more graduates a year from Virginia state schools.
“Of that 100,000 more, it is my opinion that those students should be representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
About 20% of state residents are African-American.
