Asian Americans better prepared for college, but still struggle to pay for it

By Kathleen Wyer

Collectively, more Asian American college and university students are experiencing obstacles to academic success in U.S. higher education than in the past, according to a new UCLA report. More Asian-American students now come from low-income homes with limited financial capacity to pay for college, and fewer are attending their first-choice institutions than in past years. In 2005, 51.8% reported attending their first-choice school, a significant decline from the 68% reported in 1974.

"This trend has occurred during a time span when entering Asian-American freshmen are becoming increasingly better prepared for college, as measured by high school grades and their own self-ratings of key academic and social skills, and becoming increasingly more civically involved and interested in becoming community leaders," said report co-author and UCLA associate professor of education Mitchell J. Chang.

"Beyond Myths: The Growth and Diversity of Asian American College Freshmen, 1971–2005," documents trends in the values and characteristics of Asian-American college freshmen nationwide and is based on data for 361,271 Asian and Asian American first-time, full-time college students compiled over 35 years.

The report, which represents the largest compilation and analysis of data on Asian-American college students ever undertaken, is part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program administered by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

In 2005, Asian-American freshmen were more likely than the national freshman population to come from families with household incomes of less than $40,000. Nearly 31% of Asian Americans came from such backgrounds, compared with the national average of 22.7% — presenting these students with an obstacle to success in higher education. "A substantial number of Asian Pacific American college students come from poor and modest-income families and are likely to have attended high schools that are predominantly minority," said co-author Don T. Nakanishi, professor of Asian American studies and director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. "Moreover, Asian American students and parents do not take full advantage of loans and other financial aid opportunities that can assist in meeting the rising costs of a college education."

"Low-income Asian American students, compared to their higher-income counterparts, are less savvy about applying to college, are more likely to be non-native English speakers and are more in need of a job to help pay for college," Chang said.

In addition to Chang and Nakanishi, co-authors of the report include Julie J. Park, Monica H. Lin and Oiyan A. Poon.

See related story: "Survey reports on new generation of students".