A new report from Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., finds that Whites continue to have a major edge over Blacks and other minorities in American higher education.
The report finds that although African American enrollments in higher education have steadily increased, Blacks remain underrepresented at the nation’s most prestigious college and universities that send their graduates on to the top graduate and professional schools and to the most prestigious and high-paying jobs. The authors stated that “between 1995 and 2009, 82 percent of new White freshman enrollments were at the 468 most selective four-year colleges, compared to 9 percent for African Americans; 68 percent of new African-American freshman enrollments were at open-access two- and four-year colleges.”
As a result on these new student enrollment trends, the report found that Whites represent 75 percent of students at the 468 most selective four-year colleges compared to 62 percent of the college- age population (18-24 years old) and only 57 percent of students at the open-access two- and four-year colleges. In contrast, African-American and Hispanic students represent 36 percent of students at open-access two- and four-year colleges compared to 33 percent of the college-age population (18-24 years old) and only 14 percent of students at the 468 most selective four-year colleges.
The report, Separate and Unequal: How Higher Education Reinforces the Intergenerational Reproduction of White Racial Privilege, may be downloaded here.
