Princeton Aims to Boost Black Enrollments in its Graduate Schools

A new report from the Council of Graduate Schools shows that African Americans make up 13 percent of all enrollments in graduate education in the United States. Yet at Princeton University in New Jersey blacks are only 1.3 percent of all enrollments.

Why the huge shortfall in black graduate enrollments at Princeton? The answer is quite simple. Nationwide about 55 percent of all black students participating in graduate education programs in the United States are enrolled in business or education programs. There is no graduate program in business or education at Princeton.

Now the Black Graduate Caucus and the Princeton University administration are working together to increase the number of black graduate students on campus. The Black Graduate Caucus holds a fall preview day to educate potential students on the advantages of study at Princeton. The caucus will also hold a conference this spring where black graduate students can present their research.

The university administration is preparing a report on how to boost minority recruitment at the graduate level and also how to retain black and other minority students who choose to come to Princeton.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.