The challenge

Today's high school students see college as a necessity. Nationwide, more than three-quarters of all high school seniors say they plan to go to college right after graduation. These numbers cut across all races, ethnicities, gender, socioeconomic status, the type of school they attend, its location, even their standardized test scores. In fact, only 4 percent of the nation's high school seniors don't see college in their future - a significant increase from when the same question was asked in 1982 by the US Department of Education.

These students and their families know that a college education is more important now than at any time in history. More California students are preparing for college and increasing numbers are applying for admission. Many of them won't make it, not because of the color of their skin, the language their parents speak, or the neighborhood they call home. They won't make the cut because of educational disadvantage.

Ideally, all students, regardless of where they live, irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender or their family's economic circumstances should have the opportunity to develop their full educational potential. Yet, honors classes, test preparation workshops, counselors and counseling centers, teacher training, student development, programs for parents, field trips and extracurricular activities are luxuries in too many California public schools.

Students in disadvantaged circumstances have less access to educational resources of all types. Their families receive less information about higher education and what it takes to be admitted to college. Their schools are less equipped to serve the students, with teachers who are less experienced and more often teaching out of their area of academic expertise. And the students' views of the world, their options and what it takes to succeed are often limited or unrealistic. Many of these students are from the fastest growing population segments in the state.

The projected future growth in California high school graduates will be greatest precisely among those groups whose UC-eligibility rates are the lowest. Why? Because the groups least represented on University campuses are the most heavily concentrated in the state's lowest ranking schools.

This means that the same students who will reflect the demographic make up of California and who would be leaders in government, business, industry and academia, often are concentrated in elementary, middle and high schools that are not equipped to help them meet University entrance requirements.