High-Ranking Universities Showing the Largest Gains in Black Freshmen in 2010

According to the 18th annual JBHE survey of black freshman students at the nation’s 30 highest-ranked universities, the vast majority of institutions posted gains in black first-year students compared to a year ago. The largest gain was at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. There are 92 black freshmen at Tufts this fall, an increase of nearly 59 percent.

Brown University comes in a close second with a 57 percent gain in black freshmen this year. This large increase moved Brown from dead last in the Ivy League in the percentage of black freshmen in 2009 to second place this year.

Vanderbilt University in Nashville also showed major improvement. The number of black students increased from 125 in 2009 to 179 this year, a 43 percent gain. Vanderbilt ranks second among the top 30 universities in the percentage of black first-year students.

Georgetown University also had an impressive gain of more than 40 percent.

Only eight of the top 30 universities reported a decline in black freshmen this year. At Dartmouth College, Rice University, and Wake Forest University, the declines were more than 10 percent.