While American Indian and Alaska Native students in California have made progress in academics, persistent barriers and challenges still exist for these scholars, a report released Friday by Cal State San Marcos found.
The study, released by the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center at CSUSM, found increasing high school graduation rates for American Indian and Alaska Native students -- from 70.54% in 2017-18 to 78.76% in 2021- 2022. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic set other metrics back for the minority group.
"While we celebrate the dramatic decrease in dropout rates from 53.53% to 13.53% over the past five years, we cannot ignore that our AIAN students continue to face significant barriers to academic success," said Joely Proudfit, director of the CICSC. "The pandemic has particularly impacted our communities, with absenteeism rates more than doubling from 21.3% to 43.6%."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, tribal leaders, educators and others were in Valley Center Friday for the report's unveiling at Harrah's Resort Southern California on the Rincon reservation. It looked at data from both K-12 and higher education systems.
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"Our research highlights transformative programs that are moving the needle for AIAN student success," Proudfit said. "By weaving together proven high-impact practices with culturally responsive approaches, we're creating stronger pathways to both higher education and career opportunities."
Key findings from the report include:
- A decrease in AIAN student population from 34,704 in 2015-2016 to 26,108 in 2022-2023
- Declining enrollment in California community colleges from 8,520 in 2018 to 6,575 in 2022
- A reduction in undergraduate degrees awarded in both the UC and CSU systems
- A higher UC enrollment rate compared to CSU for AIAN students between 2018-2022
"This report serves as both a celebration of progress and a call to action," Thurmond said. "The increased college-going rate from 47.4% to 55.9% shows that our efforts are bearing fruit, but the declining enrollment numbers in our community colleges and persistent achievement gaps in math and English language arts remind us that our work is far from complete."
Successful programs driving AIAN student success -- such as California Indian Education for All, the Native Scholars Pathway program and strategic community college initiatives -- "combine high-impact research practices with culturally responsive programming to strengthen both college access and workforce development," to benefit AIAN students. However, an ongoing need for educators from that ethnic background remains apparent, the authors write.
"We're at a crucial turning point," CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt said. "The data clearly shows that when we invest in culturally responsive support systems and maintain strong partnerships with tribal communities, our students thrive. It's time to scale these successful practices across our educational systems."
The authors recommend, among other ideas, sustainable funding for Native American curriculum development, developing dedicated Native American colleges within the California State University system, expanding support systems and providing tuition and housing support for American Indian and Alaska Native students.
The last CICSC report was released in 2016.
