Colleges With the Highest Black Student Graduation Rates

For many years Harvard University, traditionally one of the nation’s strongest supporters of affirmative action, has produced the highest black student graduation rate of any college or university in the nation. The 2007 data shows Harvard’s black student graduation rate is 96 percent, again the highest among U.S. colleges and universities. The black student graduation rate at Harvard increased by one percentage point this year.

Yale University and Wellesley College both have a black student graduation rate of 94 percent. Yale improved its black graduation rate by two percentage points this year. Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology both posted black student graduation rates of 93 percent. Over the four-year period from 1997 to 2000, only 14 black first-year students enrolled at CalTech and 13 went on to earn their diplomas. If only one additional black student had not completed his or her degree program, the black student graduation rate would have dropped to under 86 percent.

Amherst College, the small liberal arts college in western Massachusetts, produced a black student graduation rate of 92 percent. This is down two percentage points from a year ago. Williams College, Brown University, Stanford University, and Washington University in St. Louis also posted a black student graduation rate of 90 percent or above.

Overall there are 10 high-ranking colleges and universities with a black student graduation rate of at least 90 percent.

Seventeen other high-ranking institutions have a black student graduation rate of 86 percent or above.  All told there are 27 colleges and universities with a black student graduation rate of at least 86 percent. This is considerable progress. A year ago there were 21 colleges and universities with a black student graduation rate of 86 percent or above.

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