Gaps in College Spending Shortchange Students of Color

Researchers have highlighted the vast inequities that persist in the country’s K-12 education system with students of color disproportionately enrolled in public schools that are underfunded,1 understaffed, and thus more likely to underperform when compared with schools attended by their white peers. This report highlights that these inequitable patterns in postsecondary education take two main forms: gaps in education spending at public colleges, which tend to disadvantage students of color who are concentrated at lower-resourced institutions, and low statewide education spending levels, which affect all public college students.