JBHE Annual Survey: Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Research Universities

For the 19th consecutive year, JBHE publishes the results of its annual survey of entering Black students at the nation's leading research universities.

Against All Odds: A Story of Tenacity, Hard Work, and Higher Education

Four teenage friends all became pregnant in high school. But they vowed that by supporting each other and through dedication to hard work and education, they would succeed. Soon they will all hold MBA degrees.

Tracking Graduation Rates at HBCUs

The student graduation rate at almost all historically Black colleges and universities is below 50 percent. And the trend is not encouraging.

Five Black Authors Among the Finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards

But none of the five Black writers were selected as winners at the March 8 ceremony in New York City.

A New Class of African American Truman Scholars

The Truman Foundation does not release data on the race or ethnicity of scholarship winners. But it appears that there are at least eight African Americans among the 54 new scholars this year.

Ten African Americans Named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Through an analysis of the list of new fellows conducted by JBHE, it appears that 10 of the 220 new members are Black. Thus, African Americans make up 4.5 percent of the new members.

Honorary Degrees Given to Blacks by Leading Liberal Arts Colleges in 2012

The nation's highest-ranked liberal arts colleges gave out 16 honorary degrees to Blacks this spring. Last year only 12 Blacks received honorary degrees from this same group of liberal arts colleges.

Honorary Degrees Awarded to Blacks in 2012 From the Nation’s Highest-Ranked Universities

This spring the nation's 30 highest-ranked national universities awarded 22 honorary degrees to African Americans and other Black scholars.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Pre-College Outreach Programs for Black Men

Dr. Jame'l R. Hodges and Dr. Terrell L. Strayhorn offer the results of their study on the effectiveness of Pre-College Outreach Programs for Black Men.

Can HBCUs Compete?

Richard F. America, professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., offers strategies on how historically Black colleges and universities can compete in today's world of higher education.

Five New Black Members of the Institute of Medicine

The new members are Norman Anderson of the American Psychological Association, John Carethers and Martin Philbert of the University of Michigan, PonJola Coney of Virginia Commonwealth University and Wayne Riley of Meharry Medical College.

Three African American Women Win Rhodes Scholarships

Among this year's 32 American Rhodes Scholars are three African American women: Joy A. Buolamwini of Georgia Tech, Rhiana E. Gunn-Wright of Yale, and Nina M. Yancy of Harvard.

Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Liberal Arts Colleges

Wesleyan University leads our rankings with 85 Black freshmen at the college this year (11.3 percent of the entering class).

Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Research Universities

For the sixth year in a row, Columbia University in New York City has the highest percentage of Black first-year students among the 30 highest-ranking universities in the nation.

A Statistical Portrait of First-Year Students at Black Colleges and Universities

Each year the characteristics and attitudes of first-year college students are surveyed by researchers at UCLA. We then make comparisons between all first-year students and just those at HBCUs.

Three African American Men Win Marshall Scholarships

The scholarships, funded by the British government, provide funds for up to two years of study for American students at a British university, and include money for travel, living expenses, and books.

One Black Woman’s Legacy of Higher Education

Haldane King Jr. relates how his grandmother fostered a legacy of higher education that has now spanned many generations.

Ten Black Students Awarded Truman Scholarships

The Truman Scholarship Foundation, established by Congress in 1975, has announced 62 winners of Truman Scholarships for 2013. This year it appears that 10 of the 62 winners are African Americans.

13 Blacks Receive Honorary Degrees From Ivy League Schools

The eight Ivy League universities gave out 52 honorary degrees this commencement season. Of the 52 honorary degrees awarded this year at Ivy League schools, 13, or 25 percent, went to Blacks.

Leading With My Vitae

Dr. Candice Dowd Barnes details her efforts to gain her students' respect and acknowledgment that she belonged in the front of the classroom.

Pedagogy and Trayvon Martin

Dr. Natasha C. Pratt-Harris explores how the Trayvon Martin case will impact her teaching this fall at Morgan State University.

Racial Hatred and Higher Education

Racially-biased incidents, like the highly publicized occurrences at Oberlin College, may not be aberrational in America’s academic environments.

Six Black Scholars Join the Cornell University Faculty

The new faculty members are Christopher A. Alabi, Matthew Clayton, Eve De Rosa, Oneka LaBennett, Jamila Michener, and Olufemi Taiwo.

Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Liberal Arts Colleges

For six of the last seven years, Amherst College in western Massachusetts has had the highest percentage of Black students in its entering class among the nation's leading liberal arts colleges.

The Discouraging Trend in Graduation Rates at HBCUs

Prior research has shown that the major reason that Black students drop out of college is money. And many HBCUs, as well as the families who send their students to these schools, have faced difficult economic times.

Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Research Universities

Here is some very good news. For the 29 high-ranking universities for which we have data for both this year and last, 20 universities showed gains over last year in Black student first-year enrollments.

Campus Lockdown Prompts Racist Reactions on Social Media

When a woman at Southwestern University falsely claimed she was raped by a Black man, there was a flood of unsavory reactions on social media.

Harvard’s New Group of W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute Fellows

Black scholars who are among the new group of fellows are Christopher Emdin, Shose Kessi, Achille Mbembe, Mark Anthony Neal, Wole Soyinka, and Deborah Willis.

A Treasure Trove of Historical Data on the History of Mental Illness Among African...

Professor King Davis of the University of Texas is seeking funding to finish a monumental task of making decades of archival information on Black mental illness available to researchers.

Rebranding HBCUs

Dr. Richard America offers his views on how historically Black colleges and universities can go about a transformation so that these higher education institutions can thrive in the twenty-first century.

Nine African Americans Awarded Truman Scholarships

This year, 59 Truman scholars were selected from 655 candidates nominated by 294 colleges and universities. Of this year's 59 Truman Scholars, it appears that nine are African Americans.

Seven African American Scholars Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Through an analysis of the list of new fellows conducted by JBHE, it appears that 11 of the 188 new American members of the AAAS are African Americans. Thus, African Americans make up only 5.9 percent of the new members of the academy.

Healing Our Historically Black Colleges and Universities

HBCU Preservation Foundation's Stan Ashemore asks, "Why are we not there for HBCUs now as they were for us so many years ago?"

Let’s Create a National Endowment for HBCUs

Professor Richard F. America calls for a national fundraising effort to strengthen historically Black colleges and universities well into the twenty-first century.

My Brother’s Keeper: Some Gaps That May Keep the Nation From Making Progress Among...

D. Jason DeSousa offers suggestions to strengthen the My Brother's Keeper Task Force's final report.

African Americans Who Hold Endowed and Distinguished Professorships in Education

The authors have identified 42 faculty members who hold endowed chairs in the field of education. Meanwhile, there are nine distinguished faculty in education.

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