LAS VEGAS—A new study paints a grim picture of inequity for the more than 900,000 African-American undergraduate students at institutions of higher learning across the nation.
“Black Students at Public Colleges and Universities” by Dr. Shaun R. Harper and Isaiah Simmons at the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center is a racial report card on colleges and universities in all 50 states.
Among the major findings in the report released Tuesday:
· Although 14.6 percent of the nation’s population aged 18 through 24 is Black, only 9.8 percent of full-time, degree-seeking undergrads at public colleges and universities are Black.
· Looking at bachelor’s completion rates across four cohorts at public schools, 50.6 percent of all graduates finished within six years while only 39.4 percent of Black students did so. And 41 percent of the schools graduated one-third or fewer Black students within six years.
· The ratio of full-time, degree-seeking Black undergraduates to Black faculty at the surveyed schools was 42:1. Meanwhile, 44 percent of the schools had 10 or fewer full-time Black faculty members across every academic field and rank.
One promising figure was that in the study population, the enrollment gap between Black men and Black women was smaller than the overall gender gap. Black women were just over 52 percent of Black full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates while women overall were 56.3 percent.
