Tracking Graduation Rates at HBCUs
Filed in Features on January 5, 2012
JBHE has compiled a listing of Black student graduation rates at a large group of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. The graduation rates shown here are four-year averages for Black students who entered a particular college or university from 2001 to 2004 and earned their degree at the same institution within six years.
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The highest Black student graduation rate at the HBCUs is at Spelman College in Atlanta. There, 79 percent of entering students graduate from Spelman within six years. This rate is higher than the Black student graduation rate at many of the nation’s highest-ranked colleges and universities. The Black student graduation at Spelman College is 15 percentage points higher than at any other HBCU in our survey.
The Black student graduation rate at Howard University is 64 percent. This ranks Howard second among the HBCUs in our survey. Morehouse College in Atlanta ranks third with a Black student graduation rate of 61 percent.
The only other HBCU in our survey with a Black student graduation rate of more than 50 percent is Hampton University in Virginia. There, 54 percent of entering Black students earn a degree at Hampton within six years.
At nearly half the HBCUs in our survey, the Black student graduation rate is 33 percent or lower. At these institutions, less than one third of all entering African American students earned a bachelor’s degree within six years. There are six HBCUs in our survey where less than one in five entering Black students earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.
The lowest Black student graduation rate is at the University of the District of Columbia. There, only 10 percent of entering students earn their degree at UDC within six years. At Texas Southern University in Houston, the Black student graduation rate is 11 percent.
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Even more discouraging is the recent trend in graduation rates at historically Black colleges and universities. Of the 37 HBCUs in our survey, 21 have shown a decline in their Black student graduation rate over the past five years. Only 15 HBCUs have shown an improvement. The Black student graduation rate at Florida A&M University is the same as it was five years ago but is significantly less than was the case a decade ago.
It must be noted that the downward trend in Black student graduation rates at HBCUs has occurred during a period of economic difficulty. Many publicly operated HBCUs have seen a decline in state appropriations and cutbacks in state financial aid for college students. Private HBCUs have also faced cutbacks and difficulty in fundraising. This undoubtedly is reflected in lower student graduation rates. Prior research has shown that the major reason that Black students drop out of college is money. Thus, cuts in financial aid programs at HBCUs undoubtedly have contributed significantly to the downward trend in Black student graduation rates at these schools.
There are some bright spots. The graduation rate for Black students at Savannah State University in Georgia has increased by 11 percentage points since 2006. At Morehouse College, Howard University, Livingstone College. Fort Valley State University, and LeMoyne-Owen College, the Black student graduation rate improved by at least 6 percentage points over the past five years.
There are HBCU’s and there are colleges and universities that are predominantly Black and they are not always the same. West Virginia State (though not listed), for example, is an HBCU, but not predominantly Black. UDC is predominantly Black, but not an HBCU. Though the penultimate retention rate is not much better, it is better and belongs to an HBCU. If you are going to do an article about HBCUs you have to be careful to educate the audience about how that is defined and then use the accurate list. Lots of people think that if a school is majority Black, it’s an HBCU. Hopefully this article will generate some scholarly activity to support turning this graduation rate trend around!
Our listing of HBCUs from the Department of Education lists both West Virginia State and the University of the District of Columbia. (While UDC is relatively new, its roots go back far enough to qualify it for HBCU designation.) West Virginia State was not included for the simple reason that the majority of its student body is White. Also, there are dozens of HBCUs that were not included in this study since we are using only those schools where we have been able to track student graduation rates over a long period and this data was not always available for all colleges and universities. In addition, there is a large number of predominantly Black colleges and universities that are not HBCUs. We didn’t include them in this study but may do so in a future post. These predominantly Black colleges, just like HBCUs, are extremely important to African American higher education in this country and efforts to boost graduation rates at both groups are needed.
Indeed you are right and I do apologize. The 1974 founding took it out of the strict “historical” context, but evidently there are exceptions. Thank you for the clarification. I agree with you about not including WVSU. That would not make much sense.
I’m a ’72 graduate of Central State (OH). One important factor men faced at that time was the probability of being drafted into the military if our cumulative GPA dipped below 2.0. In today’s world there are a lot of working parents who stop and start again based on family situations, and also transfers, online degrees, etc. It would not be easy to factor these variables into such a cut and dried survey, but I think current day lifestyles and mobility, along with online education, may provide additional insights.
While the information on graduation rates at HBCUs is very informative, about what percent of Blacks in colleges attend HBCUs. That leaves all the PWCUs with the most students and their graduation rates for Blacks bear watching!
There are several other posts on graduation rates for Black students at PWCUs. Just search “graduation rates.”
Thanks. I have them. I guess the question was rhetorical to emphasize that the majority of Blacks in colleges are in PWCUs and those are the institutions that should receive the same scrutiny from Arne Duncan and his crew that he is suggesting for HBCUs.
I don’t care how you slice the data, it is still a shame. Financial aid plays a huge role in this. Usually students get to college and mess up academically their first year and lose their financial aid. Without financial aid, most blacks cannot go to school.
Not surprised by Spelman, since more black women attend college than black men. And women tend to be more focused in college. And yes I am a black man!
Thank you for publishing information regarding the current status and trends in graduation rates of Black students at HBCUs/predominantly Black institutions. This type of data, though alarming, raises a number of questions and should be the impetus for important discussions surrounding the future preparation, competitiveness, and success of our Black students. As a former chairperson and faculty member at an HBCU, I realized that I needed to be heavily engaged in academic advising, mentorship, and professional development. A good portion of the students who I encountered indicated that they were in college because one or both of their parents told them to go, were not clear on what major they should choose, had changed their major or was considering changing their major, had no clear post-graduation plans, or were working to support themselves, their education, and in some cases, their child(ren). Although these scenarios are not limited to Black students or minority-serving institutions, they could be significant contributors to why we are seeing a decline in graduation rates. Inadequate K-12 preparation, lack of motivation or appreciation for higher education and advanced training, professionalism, and minimal exposure to/knowledge of issues on a local, regional, national, and global level were concerns raised by my faculty colleagues. These too are yet additional factors that could contribute to a decline in graduation rates. With such a multidimensional issue, as academicians, educators, policy makers, and leaders, where do we begin to address this issue? Do we know if an educational disparity exists between graduation rates of Black students at PWCUs versus HBCUs/predominantly Black institutions? Is this observation in graduation rates for Black students only made at our HBCUs/predominantly Black institutions or is the same trend observed for Black students at other institutions of higher education? It is such a joy and a reward to see young Black men and women graduate from institutions of higher learning successfully, and there are tremendous benefits to having additional education. With all of that said, how do we collaborate to improve graduation rates?
The information shown above about Blacks student graduating from any HBCU’s is informative and comprehendable. As I am a black student at a non traditional school or PWCU. I would like to see a study done on Blacks graduation rate at these universities. Is the PWCUs educating us “Blacks” better than the HBCUs? Many would say yes because they have more access to funds so they can better teach the students. Also I would like to see a list of HBCUs offering online degrees for the traditional and nontraditional students. I am entering my last year of my BS program in Psychology. I sit here and wonder what if I could have had the chance to learn online at any HBCU. Would I have taken the chance? The answer would be yes because I would like to experience black education. But since it wasn’t available I had to opt out of that choice and follow another path.
Was Winston Salem State involved in this study?
The latest four-year average graduation rate for Black students at Winston-Salem State University is 37 percent. The university was not in an earlier JBHE study so the university was not included in the table on graduation rate progress. However, after further investigation, it appears that the graduation rate for Black students at the university dropped by 10 percentage points during the period.
What is Xavier’s graduation rate?
According to the Department of Education website, 38 percent of 2004 entering students graduated from Xavier by 2010.
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=xavier&s=all&id=160904#retgrad