A Statistical Portrait of First-Year Students at Black Colleges and Universities

ucla_logoEach year the characteristics and attitudes of first-year college students are surveyed by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. This nationwide survey compares current first-year students in terms of characteristics such as family income, grades in high school, and future goals. In addition, the survey contains statistics on a wide variety of personal traits such as study habits, political views, and social activities.

uclafrosh copyUnfortunately, the race-related data in the UCLA survey is limited to students at historically Black colleges and universities and includes no information on differences between Black and White students at predominantly White colleges and universities.

More than half of entering college students report that they had A or A- averages in high school. For entering students at HBCUs, 24 percent said they had A or A- averages in high school.

This year’s data shows that students at Black colleges are less likely than college students generally to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. Entering students at Black colleges spend far more time on social networking websites and watching television than first-year college students generally.

The data shows that students at Black colleges are more likely than college students generally to travel 500 miles or more from home to attend school. Students at HBCUs are more likely to go to church and are less likely than college students generally to support same-sex marriages.

One must remember that many historically Black colleges and universities are affiliated with conservative religious organizations. Given this fact, it is no surprise that African-American students at these colleges are more likely to hold more conservative views and positions than is the case for African-American college students generally. On many issues, students at Black colleges tend to be more conservative than college students generally.

The complete report, The American Freshman: National Norms, 2014, may be downloaded by clicking here.

Related Articles

2 COMMENTS

  1. UCLA!You have the chutzpah to be affiliated with research concerning Black American college students. Particularly since you have an atrocious record as it pertains to expanding the admissions ranks of Black American students (not including student athletes either) at your school. I would suggest that you examine your own implicitly bias school in how it disparately treat Black American students.

    It’s utterly amazing that Los Angeles and the state of California is portrayed as being a bastion of liberalism and multiculturalism, and all the while, it’s as equally or more racist than many of the southern states.

    • Michael: Does any of the above surprise you? California is just as Southern as Mississippi.
      The United States of America was established as a white society, founded upon the genocide of the First American indigenous tribes and the enslavement of gifted powerful Africans.
      Do I need to say more?

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

California State University Sacramento Launches Black Honors College

Officially launching for the fall 2024 semester, the Black Honors College will support students from all backgrounds who study Black history, life, and culture by providing them with a specialized curriculum and mentoring opportunities.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024

Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.

Georgia State University Launches Program to Support Black Women in Tech

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

Featured Jobs