A new report from The Education Trust shows which colleges and universities have shown the most progress in improving the graduation rates of African Americans students.
The report states that the overall six-year graduation rate nationwide for Black students in 2010 was 40.6 percent. This was nearly 20 percentage lower than the rate for all students. The study found that since 2004, 51 percent of all institutions surveyed showed an increase in Black student graduation rates while 38 percent showed a decline. However, the racial graduation rate gap increased or stayed the same at 53 percent of the colleges and universities surveyed.
California University of Pennsylvania showed the largest increase in Black student graduation rates from 27.5 percent in 2004 to 60.5 percent in 2010. California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, Towson University in Maryland, Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina Wilmington were all public universities that posted an improvement in Black student graduation rates of more than 20 percentage points.
Among the private college and universities with large increases in Black student graduation rates were Northwood University in Texas, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, Tiffin University in Ohio, Andrew University in Michigan, the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, LaGrange College in Georgia, and Texas Wesleyan University.
The report, Advancing to Completion: Increasing Degree Attainment by Improving Graduation Rates and Closing Gaps for African-American Students, can be downloaded here.
