Book Description

This volume explores issues of scholarship, fiscal policies, and admissions in the higher education of Puerto Ricans, with the emphasis on Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland and a particular focus on Puerto Rican admissions to the City University of New York. The first paper, "The Centro's Models of Scholarship: Present Challenges to Twenty Years of Academic Empowerment" by Maria Josefa Canino considers the history of the Centro Puertorriqueno of Hunter College of the City University of New York and its mission for scholarship and the formation of policy related to Puerto Ricans. The second paper, "Puerto Ricans and Fiscal Policies in U.S. Higher Education: The Case of the City University of New York" by Camille Rodriguez and Ramon Bosque-Perez illustrates the interplay between finance and policy and the education of Puerto Ricans. "Latinos and the College Preparatory Initiative" by Camille Rodriguez, Judith Stern Torres, Milga Morales-Nadal, and Sandra Del Valle discusses the College Preparatory Initiative (CPI), a program designed by the City University of New York as a way to strengthen the educational experiences of students. CPI attempts to combine raised academic standards and school/college collaboration to increase the participation and retention of minority students, but it is likely to have adverse effects because of the difficulty students will have in achieving CPI standards before admission. A postscript calls for further efforts by the City University to assist minority students. (Contains nine graphs and references following each paper.) (SLD)