Census Study Finds That the Number of Blacks in Prison Is Triple the Number of Blacks Who Live in College Dormitories

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there are three times as many African Americans housed in prisons as there are blacks who live in college dormitories. The study found that in 2006 there were 846,735 African Americans incarcerated in adult correctional facilities in the United States. But there were only 270,018 African Americans who lived in college dormitories.

For the entire population of the United States, including all races, there were about 250,000 more people living in college dormitories than in prisons. The data does not include so-called commuter students or those who live off-campus.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.