Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity Study on College Access in Minnesota Schools Cited in Star Tribune

In January, Minnesota Law's Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity, directed by Professor Myron Orfiled, Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, released a study that ranked the metro area’s 146 high schools based on the percentage of graduates who went on to highly rated colleges from 2012 through 2021. The results underscored differences in outcomes by race. A recent Star Tribune article cited the report and argues that while school choice is available to all families, many parents pick schools where their kids look like everyone else, and that "the economic effects on Minnesota are now playing out."

The report, titled, "Pathways to Prosperity and Roads to Nowhere: College Access in the Best and Worst Twin Cities High Schools," highlights that of the 30 best-performing schools, only St. Paul’s Central High School had a student body that was less than 50% white. Eighteen of the top 30 were at least 75% white. Conversely, in the bottom 30 schools, 24 had a student body less than 50% white. Eight had a student body of at least 75% from one nonwhite race.