Top Gap Closers: Some Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities Have Made Good Progress in Closing Graduation-Rate Gaps

  • January 29, 2010
  • The Education Trust

Although data show that college-going rates have increased considerably for all races over the past 30 years, the racial gap in degree attainment has also grown.

The gaps in degree attainment can be a result of the gap in college-going rates, but they also reveal the racial disparities in students’ success once they are in college. Among today’s young adults 25 to 29 years-old, 37 percent of whites have earned a bachelor’s degree, which is nearly twice the rate of African-Americans (20 percent), and three times the rate of Hispanics (12 percent).
 
There are many that believe these gaps are inevitable because of the numerous factors that could have initiated such disparities. Researchers have found by focusing on student success, many colleges have either significantly narrowed graduation-rate gaps or eliminated them completely.
 
In order for public colleges to achieve their mission to serve the higher education needs of their states, they must do their utmost to ensure that more minorities earn college degrees, asserts the Education Trust. This brief highlights the practices of public colleges and universities that are doing a good job of narrowing the gap.
 


From 2002 to 2007, minority students have made vast progress. Within the five years, about 60 percent of public institutions have improved their minority graduation rates. Georgia State University, for example, rose from 32.3 percent to 50.7 percent, and today the university’s minority students graduate at higher rates than their nonminority peers. Georgia State and several other colleges highlighted in this brief serve as examples to demonstrate public institution’s capabilities. 

 

 

 

Top Gap Closers: Some Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities Have Made Good Progress in Closing Graduation-Rate Gaps

Stay Informed

Receive news summaries by e-mail: