New Statistics about Black College Students
The Chronicle of Higher Education has published the 2008 edition of its annual almanac. The numbers are in, and here are some highlights on Black students and educational participation:
Population of the U.S.: 301,621,157
Proportion of the population that identifies as Black: 12.8%
Proportion of all adults who have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher: 27%
Total number of students enrolled in bachelor’s, graduate, and professional degree programs: 17,758,870
Total number of Black students enrolled in bachelor’s, graduate, and professional degree programs: 2,279,605
Proportion of undergraduates who are Black: 14.1%
Proportion of Black men and women who hold at least a bachelor’s degree: 18.6%
Proportion of fall 2007 college freshman who are Black: 10.7%
Number of doctoral degrees conferred in the U.S. in 2006: 45,596
Proportion of 2006 doctoral degrees earned by Black men and women: 6.3%
Top 5 African and Afro-diasporic nations sending students to the U.S., in descending order (does not include permanent residents): Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica, Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago
Proportion of fall 2007 freshmen who feel it is likely that they will “socialize with someone of another racial or ethnic group”: 66.0%
Proportion of fall 2007 freshmen who agree “strongly or somewhat” that “affirmative action in college admissions should be abolished”: 47.8%
Proportion of fall 2007 freshmen who agree “strongly or somewhat” that “racial discrimination is no longer a major problem in America”: 19.5%
Posted by Ajuan Mance
Posted in Academia, African Americans, Black Students, Current Events, Higher Education, race
September 24th, 2008 at 7:36 am
This is very uplifting.Great post.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Thanks for reading! I love those moments when the hard numbers contradict all of the negative spin about Black people that we hear every day. The mainstream news is saturated with it. No wonder some of our most marginalized young people don’t believe they are capable of reaching their goals.
May 4th, 2010 at 2:26 am
What percentage of black males graduate from college compared to the percentage of those that serve their full time in prison?
Take away from the totals the number of black African born immigrants how many black native born males are in college compared to those in prison?
May 6th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Interesting question, Pianki. I dig up the numbers and post when I find them. The simple fact is that including immigrants or not, from Africa, the Caribbean, or elsewhere, there have never been more college-aged Black men in prison than there are in college.
In the U.S. 26.7 percent of all Black college students are immigrants, from Africa, from the Caribbean, and elsewhere.
If you are truly interested in this question, you may wish to check out this link: http://hellonegro.com/2007/10/22/true-or-false-more-black-men-in-jail-than-in-college/