Report on Asian Americans, diversity, and higher education

LOS ANGELES (March 12, 2014) — As part of a coalition of Asian American and Pacific Islander civil rights and higher education organizations, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles has released a brief report entitled Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California: How Higher Education Diversity Benefits Our Communities.

A one-page summary of the report was also released, including translations of the one-page summary into Chinese and Korean.

Citing extensive data and other research, the report provides information on: Proposition 209, standardized tests such as the SAT, the underrepresentation of many Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic groups in higher education, the benefits of diversity in education, and the need to look at larger issues affecting public higher education.

“The issue of higher education is a very complex one for California’s diverse communities,” said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of Advancing Justice – LA. “The facts and data in this report paint a more accurate picture of the issues Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders face in accessing higher education. It also sheds light on other important questions that we as Californians must address together, such as the long-term disinvestment in our state’s public higher education system.”

This report is one in a series of educational materials and proposals that Advancing Justice – LA is releasing in coming days and weeks dealing with expanding college opportunity as well as addressing the role of affirmative action in higher education. All materials, including the report, summary, and translated summaries in Chinese and Korean are available from the Advancing Justice-LA website.

In addition to Advancing Justice – LA, other organizations that co-released this policy brief include: Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education, Chinese for Affirmative Action, National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education, The Civil Rights Project at the University of California – Los Angeles, and University of California Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy Multicampus Research Program.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles is the nation’s largest Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander  legal and civil rights organization and serves more than 15,000 individuals and organizations every year.