Pennsylvania Higher Education Institution Admissions Officers' Perceptions of Minority Students' Access To Four-Year Baccalaureate Degree-Granting Institutions.

This study reviewed the history of minority students' access to higher learning in the state of Pennsylvania. In addition, recent trends concerning minority students' access to Pennsylvania's four-year baccalaureate-degree granting institutions of higher education were examined. Emphasis was placed on examining the status of affirmative action policies in college admissions. Issues regarding equal opportunity provided the foundation for the conceptual frame of the study.The study found that Pennsylvania's four-year institutions of higher education have historically operated within the full context of the law regarding affirmative action policy in college admissions. The study also examined; Access, Preparation, Admissibility, Affordability, and the Legal-Institutional implications of college access.The survey methodology utilized a sample frame of 106 of the state's 108 four-year institutions of higher education. In addition, two community colleges were included in the sample to review transferability of minority students to four-year institutions. The target group consisted of 120 Admissions Officers and Enrollment Managers from 106 Pennsylvania baccalaureate degree-granting institutions of higher education and 2 community colleges. The response rate for the survey was 98 of 120 equaling 82%.The study found that Pennsylvania admissions officers perceived that minority students' academic preparedness for four-year baccalaureate-degree study required significant improvement. These findings showed, that in spite of perceived academic shortcomings, the majority of the state's four-year colleges and universities reported that minority students were generally admissible to their institutions. Admissions officers reported that transferring minority students from two- to four-year schools to increase access was not a priority for their institutions. The findings also indicated that a significant number of admissions officers perceived that affordability and the cost of attendance at Pennsylvania's four-year institutions impeded minority students' access to baccalaureate-degree study.Based on the research findings, this study outlines several policy options for implementing affirmative action admissions practices and increasing four-year rates of college entry for Pennsylvania resident minority students