Long-Term Progress In Boosting Graduation Rates at the Black Colleges

JBHE has collected four year average student graduation rate statistics going back to 1998 for a group of 37 historically black universities. The good news is that during this period, 21 of the 37 colleges and universities have seen an improvement in their black student graduation rates. Over the period there have been huge differences in graduation rates at some of these HBCUs. For example, the black graduation rate at Fisk University increased from 46 percent in 1998 to 63 percent today. In 1993 the black student graduation rate at Fisk was only 25 percent. Other schools showing large improvements in their black student graduation rates are Lincoln University in Missouri, Tennessee State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. All of these black colleges and universities have seen a 13 percentage point or more rise in black student graduation rates over the past eight years. At Howard University and Stillman College the black student graduation rate has improved by 11 percentage points over the past eight years.

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