Intentionally Successful: Improving Minority Student College Graduation Rates

According to a new brief from the Education Trust  using new data from the U.S. Department of Education, over the past three years, the number of black and Latino undergraduates enrolled in four-year colleges has increased faster than the enrollment of white students. Additionally, graduation rates for all three groups have increased.

The brief features institutions that are increasing graduation for Black and Latino students at equal (or better) rates than for their white students including the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Stony Brook University, and Northeastern University. The brief credits the use of expanded student support resources, and evidence-based practices, and the determination and hard work on the part of administration and faculty as significant elements in improving the enrollment and graduation rates of minority students.

Among the report’s findings:

• From 2009 to 2011:
  
  
  
  • Enrollment rates for black undergraduates at four-year colleges and universities rose 8.5%.
  
  
  • Enrollment rates for Latino students rose 22%.
  
  
  • Enrollment rates for white students rose 2.7%.
  
  
  • The six-year graduation rate  for black students at four-year colleges and universities rose 2%.
  
  
  • The graduation rate for Latino students rose 4.7%.
  
  
  • The graduation rate for white students rose 2.1%.