Minority Politics and Group-Differentiated Curricula at Minority-Serving Colleges

This paper analyzes whether ethnocentric curricula, defined as courses that focus exclusively on particular racial/ethnic groups, are more prevalent at minority-serving colleges than at mainstream institutions. Using original curricular data for a sample of tribal, Black, Hispanic, and mainstream colleges, the author found that ethnocentric content tends to be more extensive at tribal and Puerto Rican institutions than at institutions catering to African Americans and mainland Hispanics. This finding can be attributed to the exceptional quasisovereign political status of Indian tribes and Puerto Rico and are confirmed with an analysis of female-centric curricula at women's colleges.