High-Ranking Colleges and Universities Where the Black Student Graduation Rate Is Better or Very Close to the Rate for White Students

Many academics and administrators will be surprised to hear that there are a few selective colleges in the United States that report a higher graduation rate for black students than for whites. Four of the nation’s highest-ranked colleges and universities actually have a higher graduation rate for black students than for white students.   

According to the latest statistics from Smith College, Grinnell College, Wake Forest University, and the California Institute of Technology, a black student on these campuses is more likely to complete the four-year course of study and receive a diploma than is a white student.

Also encouraging is the fact that the black student graduation rate is identical to the rate for white students at Wellesley College.

At some other high-ranking educational institutions, the difference in black and white graduation rates is very small. Vanderbilt University in Nashville has an 88 percent graduation rate for black students, just one percentage point below its rate for whites. This is good news because Vanderbilt has been able to reach racial parity in student graduation rates during a period in which it has greatly increased black enrollments. Other high-ranking colleges and universities where the white student graduation rate is only one percentage point higher than the black rate are Harvard University, Claremont McKenna College, Trinity College, and Davidson College.

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