States That Enroll the Fewest Black Students in Higher Education

According to new data released by the Department of Education, Montana has the fewest African-American students enrolled in higher education of any of the 50 states. In 2004 there were only 287 black students enrolled in college in Montana. Wyoming had the second-fewest total of blacks enrolled in college with 329. The states of Idaho, South Dakota, Vermont, and North Dakota each had fewer than 1,000 black students enrolled in college.

On a percentage basis, Montana also has the lowest level of black student enrollments. Only 0.6 percent of the more than 47,000 college students in Montana were black. Idaho was the only other state where blacks made up less than 1 percent of all college students. In Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Maine, and Vermont, blacks were less than 2 percent of all students enrolled in college.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.