Access to College in a Public Policy Environment Supporting Both Opportunity and Selectivity

During the postwar period, when higher education expanded rapidly, a complex set of public higher education institutions was created in each of our large metropolitan regions, a set that can be considered, together with the private institutions, as an opportunity structure for higher education. This research examines the ways potential college students from five of the nation's largest metropolitan areas have flowed through this opportunity structure. It shows that this system of institutions is highly stratified by mission and admissions policies and offers different opportunities with very different consequences to majority and minority students. It shows that the opportunities available through the public colleges and universities have been most important for all groups of students and that a higher proportion of comprehensive colleges and universities in the public sector, a higher proportion of campuses in the "competitive" and "less competitive" admissions categories (fourth and fifth highest on a six-point scale), and a smaller percentage of community colleges are associated with greater access and bachelor's degree attainment for all students, and particularly for minority students.