Davis & Crist Debate Minority College Numbers

Pop quiz. The question is minority college enrollment. Who is correct. Jim Davis or Charlie Crist.

Crist: Florida guarantees admission to public high school students graduating in the top 20 percent of their class, provides SAT preparation classes, pays for the PSAT test for all 10th-graders, and has significantly boosted minority enrollment in Advanced Placement courses. As a result, more minority students are enrolling in Florida's universities, and they have increased as a percentage of enrollment at our universities.

Davis: No. One Florida has been a dismal failure. In the past five years, African-American freshman enrollment has dropped, when it should be increasing. I support affirmative action. I would repeal One Florida and take major steps to increase African-American enrollment in our colleges and universities.

Should Florida automatically restore a felon's voting rights upon completion of his/her sentence?

The answer is they both are. Hispanic student enrollment has greatly increased. Minority enrollment has increased. Davis is correct that black freshman enrollment is down even though their are now more black college students. It's all in the percentage points.

State University System figures show black enrollment has grown 19.7 percent since 1999 compared to an overall increase of 24 percent. Blacks now make up 13.7 percent of the university system's enrollment, down from 14.2 percent from 1999.

The numbers game can becoming confusing for voters. I thought I clear this up. Voters can make their own decisions.