Higher Tuition Appears to Be Pushing Black Students From the University of Oklahoma Down Into Community Colleges

From 2000 to 2005, black enrollments at the University of Oklahoma have fallen from 1,421 to 1,231. This is a decrease of 13 percent. During the same period, enrollments for white students was up sharply.

Administrators at the university believe that the increasing cost of attending college is largely to blame for declining black enrollments. In the 2000 to 2005 period, a student taking 30 credit hours over the course of an academic year has seen his or her tuition rise from $1,890 to $2,862. This is a whopping increase of more than 51 percent.

Over the same time frame, black enrollments at Oklahoma City Community College have increased by 72 percent.

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