Common App is a nonprofit organization that supports students applying to college by providing them with a online platform to apply to multiple colleges and universities with a single application. The Common App application includes questions that inquire about students’ intended majors and future career goals.
Recently, the organization has released a report tracking the persistence of students entering college with the intent to pursue a STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medicine) major who ultimately graduate with a STEMM degree within six years. According to the report’s findings, there are significant racial disparities in STEMM degree persistence.
The report includes data on over 786,000 college applicants during the 2016-2017 application season who planned to enroll in the 2017-2018 academic year. Black students represented some 12 percent of all applicants included in the study.
Over half (53 percent) of all applicants reported at least partial interest in pursuing a STEMM degree. About 52 percent of Black applicants expressed interest in a STEMM education, compared to 50 percent of White students, 51 percent of Latinx students, and 69 percent of Asian students. Among specific STEMM fields, health was the top choice among Black applicants, with about 43 percent reporting interest in this discipline.
Although the majority of all applicants wanted to major in STEMM , there were significant disparities found among students who went on to graduate with a STEMM degree by Fall 2023. Only 28 percent of Black students who originally expressed interest in a STEMM education ended up graduating from college with a STEMM degree. This was the lowest persistence rate among all major racial or ethnic groups.
About 16 percent of Black students who originally planned to major in STEMM ended up switching to a different degree program. The remaining Black STEM aspirants included in the study either never enrolled, enrolled late, or did not graduate within six years.
