Black Enterprise’s Flawed College Rating Formula
Florida A&M University in Tallahassee is rated as the best college for African Americans in the latest Black Enterprise survey.
To be sure, Florida A&M has provided a college education to tens of thousands of young blacks. The institution has many strengths. But does it really deserve Black Enterprise’s endorsement as the best college in the nation for African-American students? Consider the following:
- The black student graduation rate at Florida A&M University is 34 percent.
- Student hazing has been a major problem on campus.
- Enrollments have fallen in each of the past two years.
- The university’s law school has the lowest bar passage rate in the state.
- In February 2006 the National Collegiate Athletic Association placed Florida A&M University on probation for four years. More than 30 athletic scholarships were taken away from the university when the NCAA discovered 200 violations in 15 intercollegiate sports.
- 41 people were fired from the university after a payroll audit found that they did no work at the university.
- In 2005 the Orlando Sentinel said that it appeared that Florida A&M had been taken over by the “Marx Brothers Management Corp.”
- In 2005 the National Science Foundation announced that it would discontinue funding its grants to the institution until it was assured that the money would not be wasted.
- In 2005 an internal audit showed a $23 million gap in budget allocations and spending, and administrators were unable to determine why the budget gap occurred.
With all the troubles besetting Florida A&M, it seems highly unlikely that the school is the best place for a young African-American student. Are the life chances of a young African American better off with a diploma from Florida A&M, or one from MIT or Vanderbilt? These two universities have shown a strong commitment to racial diversity and have high black student graduation rates, but neither made the Black Enterprise Top 50 list.
Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.