New Reports Shows Progress in African American College Enrollments and Degree Attainments

PellThe Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania have issued a new report that examines trends in high education enrollments, retention, and degree attainment by family income, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity.

The report shows that while bachelor’s degree attainment rates have increased for all family income quartiles, the distribution of bachelor’s degree attainment between family income levels has remained relatively constant since 1970.

The report does report some progress in college enrollments and degree attainment for African Americans. For example, in 1980 Blacks were about 12 percent of the U.S. population and attained 7 percent of the bachelor’s degrees conferred. Thus, Blacks were just over half (58 percent) as likely to be represented among bachelor’s degree recipients as in the U.S. population. By 2013, Blacks were 13 percent of the population and received 11 percent of the bachelor’s degrees conferred, indicating that Blacks were about 85 percent as likely to be represented among bachelor’s degree recipients as in the population.

The full report, Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2016 Historical Trend Report, can be downloaded by clicking here.

Related Articles

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