Research & Studies

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund's Dr. N. Joyce Payne Research Center recently published a new report discussing the skills and structural conditions necessary to retain successful HBCU presidents, who currently average less than five years in office.

Over the twenty-first century, the number of Black immigrants in the United States has more than doubled. Over a third of Black immigrants have at least a bachelor's degree, with 16 percent holding a master's degree or higher.

Contrary to the widespread belief that men are more competitive than women overall, a new study from scholars at New York University Abu Dhabi has found this generalization does not extend to the Black population. Their research revealed that Black women are just as competitive and risk tolerant as Black men.

Effective July 1, there will be new annual and aggregate borrowing limits on federal loans used for graduate programs. According to a new analysis from the Century Foundation, these limits are far below the median cost of attending both public and private medical institutions, which suggests many students will need to take on private loans or choose not to attend medical school at all.

Six-in-ten Black and Hispanic teens say they use AI chatbots to get help with their schoolwork, compared to roughly half of their White peers. Nearly four-in-ten Black teens say AI chatbots are extremely or very helpful, and almost one-fifth say the technology helps with all or most of their homework.

The analysis documents how the second Trump administration has transformed how the federal government views and enforces civil rights and discusses how those changes will impact Black Americans in the future.

In a focus-group study of Black alumni from undergraduate and graduate programs at for-profit colleges and universities, nearly all participants said they would not choose to attend the same school in hindsight.

“This research helps to quantify HBCUs' impact on their local communities, which we think should be an important finding for policymakers, especially considering that about half of HBCUs are public universities that are highly dependent on state legislatures for their funding,” said Russell Weinstein of the University of Illinois.

Using survey data on a range on industries, occupations, and unions in the South, the study discusses the challenges facing Black workers and their viewpoints on unions.

At age 62, Black adults who had gone to an HBCU had better memory and cognitive function than their counterparts who attended a predominately White institution.

A new report from Stephen Burd of New America has identified 23 private and 18 public universities who spend significantly higher shares of their institutional aid on students who do not need it. In 2023, these universities distributed $2.4 billion in non-need-based aid.

In 2024 African Americans made up 12.3 percent of all work-related fatalities due to injury, down from 13.4 percent in 2022. But Black workers made up 25 percent of all worker deaths by homicide or suicide.

Although HBCUs are significantly more likely to enroll students from low-income households, there is virtually no difference in the share of students who receive state grant aid at HBCUs and non-HBCUs, according to a new analysis from the Century Foundation.

“A survivor’s access to support shouldn’t be dictated by race, bureaucracy or geography,” said Jermey Levine of the University of Michigan. “Until we remove these administrative gatekeepers — starting with police verification — the system will continue to fail the people it was built to protect.”

In 2025, 11.3 percent of African American workers were members of labor unions compared to 9.9 percent of White workers. African Americans nonunion workers made only 83.6 percent of the wages of African American union members.

A new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has found the Pell Grant program is projected to be $5 billion in the red at the end of 2026. If congressional action is not taken to fix the program's structural shortfall, the Pell program faces a projected $104 billion to $157 billion cumulative deficit over the next decade.

After adjusting for inflation, the median household income for Black households has increased in 38 states and the District of Columbia since 2009. Only one state (Nevada) experienced a decline in Black households' median income, while 11 states and Puerto Rico had no significant change.

“These disparities reflect decades of structural and environmental inequities,” said senior author Kai Chen, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. “Communities of color are more likely to live near highways, industrial facilities, and other pollution sources, resulting in disproportionately higher exposure to air pollution.”

In 2025, Black women with a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education experienced a 3.5 percent drop in their employment rate, largely due to sweeping federal layoffs and buyouts over the past year.

Black faculty represent 5 percent of tenure-track faculty, but 10 percent of adjuncts, who make significantly less money and receive fewer benefits.