But there are still differences along race and ethnicity at many institutions. 48% percent of students are minorities or people of color (BIPOC). Then they mathematically adjusted the graduation rates, comparing students with the same academic preparation and family income or poverty status at each college. Blom pointed out that Pasadena City College in California was able to reduce graduation inequities after it scrutinized its student data and changed dozens of policies. The United States is becoming more diverse, and the higher education setting is no exception, with approximately 40 percent of college and university students identifying themselves as black, Latinx, Asian, Native American, and mixed race. For the state of Virginia, they had access to family income, which was listed on college applications. If we want more college-educated Americans, we need to do something about it. The number of single mothers in college more than doubled between 1999 and 2012. Over the same time period, the percentage of Caucasian/White students decreased, from 73.7 percent in 2004-05 to 70 percent in 2014-15. National Data Fact Sheets on First-generation College Students. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Blom and her co-author didn’t have enough data to adjust for other factors that could explain the graduation differences. One might hope if we could adjust for these factors —  academic preparation and family income —  that racial graduation gaps would disappear. This is where the Urban Institute analysis gets really interesting. An additional 6% earned a certificate, and 13% earned a bachelor's degree. When I talked with Erica Blom, one of the authors, she applauded education leaders in Virginia and Connecticut for wanting to understand their equity gaps and opening their student data records to this kind of scrutiny. For example, since 1994, enrolment of black students has doubled at institutions that primarily grant associate degrees, including community colleges. You can check the student demographics by gender ratio , race/ethnicity , and age distribution . “If the will or money is not present, it is difficult to see large-scale structural change occurring,” Baker said by e-mail. Please read our guidelines for more information. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. Approximately seven percent of all college undergraduates are married, though the figure is higher when taking into account post-graduate students. Black and Latino students do graduate at higher rates than white and Asian students at two historically black Virginia universities, Hampton and Virginia State. But when you looked at the percent of the state that was black and the percent of the college that was black, it painted a different picture. This likely means they have taken on student loan debt, but the remaining cost was covered by grants, scholarships, or savings. In Virginia, for example, more than 50 percent of all black college students attend just four colleges, according to research by the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank. As more mature aged students either start college, the number of married college students increases. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. The college’s efforts were explained at length in a story published September 2019 in Politico. Race and Ethnicity of College and University Presidents Over Time In 1986, Whites represented 91.9 percent of all college and university presidents. At one Virginia community college, Paul D. Camp in Franklin, there is still a 20 percentage point difference between the graduation rates of whites and Asians and those of blacks and Latinos. In 2007, 56.7 percent of elementary school students (kindergarten through grade 8) and 66.1 percent of college students (undergraduate and graduate) were non-Hispanic white. College Costs: State Spending Charts Changes in state spending on college education, state student aid, tuition, & fees. White and Asian students completed their programs at similar rates -- 62 percent and 63.2 percent, respectively -- while Hispanic and black students graduated at rates of 45.8 percent and 38 … They’re not the state’s most selective institutions such as University of Virginia in Charlottesville, College of William and Mary or Virginia Tech. But another way to think about educational inequality is to analyze how students fare at the same institution. The researchers at the Urban Institute were able to dig back into college application and school records and see students’ SAT scores and high school grades. more likely to persist to the second year by a margin of 77 percent to 64 percent. Forty-two percent of white students aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college in 2013, compared to 34 percent of black and Hispanic students that age, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But Black students would see the most significant drop: Their college success rate would decrease from 51.5% to 37.1%, a 14.4 percentage point difference. For Virginia, the researchers were able to reveal the names of the colleges, but not for Connecticut. Enter your email address to receive our blogs directly to your inbox! Approximately 12.6 million students currently attend full-time while 7.8 million attend part-time (source). The gaps are smaller in Connecticut and at two-year colleges but they still exist. In contrast, around a quarter of postsecondary faculty were nonwhite (24%), versus 45% of … According to the latest data (2011–12), the percentage of undergraduates who reported having a disability was 11 percent for both males and females. Fourteen percent of dependent students with family incomes in the lowest income quartile (less than $30,000) who started at a public two-year college in 2003–04 completed an associate degree by 2009. About 17.5 million students are expected to enroll in undergraduate programs, and 3.0 million will enroll in post-baccalaureate programs (source). Only 21 percent of blacks and 15 percent of Latinos have a bachelor’s degree or more, compared with 35 percent of whites and 54 percent of Asians. This story about college graduation rates by race and ethnicity was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. 38% percent of students are minorities or people of color (BIPOC).The ethnic breakdown is detailed in the following table. By continuing to use this website, you consent to our usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with our cookie policy. Black students are less likely to apply and be admitted to the state’s top tier schools. College applications can only seek racial and ethnic identity in order to comply with non-discrimination laws or to provide equal opportunity, but students do not have to self-identify. Black Virginians were more likely to have grown up in poor neighborhoods and attended elementary, middle and high schools with other poor students, less experienced teachers and fewer resources. The overall college enrollment rate has increased since 2000. … Nearly 40 percent of white students and 70.6 percent of black students received need-based financial aid. Learn More{{/message}}. Some perspective students were turned off by how few black students we had. There is no indication that this trend won't continue. In 2015/2016, 56 percent of college students were female and 44 percent were male. 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