Factual Fridays: Black Higher Education by the Numbers

Here are a few fun facts about Black folks in higher education to take you into the weekend:

• By 2007, approximately 4 million African Americans (or 18.5% of all Blacks) held at least a bachelor’s degree.  (Source: Journal of Blacks in Higher Education [BHE]by way of The Black Commentator).
• Percentage of all African Americans ages 18 to 24 who were enrolled in college in 1981: 19.9%. (Source: Journal of Blacks in Higher Education [JBHE]).
• Percentage of all African Americans ages 18 to 24 who were enrolled in college a quarter-century later in 2006: 32.6%. (Source: Journal of Blacks in Higher Education [JBHE]).
• Percentage of all master’s degrees awarded at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities in 2006 that were awarded to women: 72.5%. (Source: Journal of Blacks in Higher Education [JBHE]).
• Percentage of white parents of preschool children in 2007 who read to their children every day: 67%. (Source: JBHE).
• Percentage of black parents of preschool children in 2007 who read to their children every day: 35%. (Source: JBHE)

…and this week’s most surprising/heartening (?) set of facts about Blacks and higher education:

• Median earnings in 2006 of a white American aged 25 to 34 who held a bachelor’s degree but no higher degree: $45,000. (Source: JBHE)
• Median earnings in 2006 of an African American aged 25 to 34 who held a bachelor’s degree but no higher degree: $37,000. (Source: JBHE)
• Median earnings in 2006 of a white American aged 25 to 34 who held a master’s degree: $50,000. (Source: JBHE)
• Median earnings in 2006 of an African American aged 25 to 34 who held a master’s degree: $50,000. (Source: JBHE)

Posted by Ajuan Mance