Black People In College

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are experiencing low retention rates with first generation college students. The students are not graduating within a four to six year enrollment period, and or are not returning after their freshmen year. As the American workforce looks to colleges and universities to fulfill the workforce pipeline with educated diverse workers, HBCUs are in the spotlight to produce qualified minority graduates. Moreover, HBCU’s are looking to refine their methods of inclusion and buy-in, this will in-turn manifest a higher level of retention amongst first generation college students.

In Frank Bruni’s article “The Real Campus Scourge,” the main argument that many college freshmen are extremely lonely at the start of their college careers is supported by numerous testimonials and statistics, which add to the credibility of the argument and ultimately make the argument very believable.

In 2010, Black females “earned twice the number of baccalaureate degrees than Black males (66% vs 34%). Also, 70% of Black men do not complete a college degree within six years,” according to “Deficient or Resilient: A Critical Review of Black Male Academic Success and Persistence in Higher Education.” Black males are usually a product of their environment which translates into their performance in college. Most of them will have friends and family who may discourage them and even encourage them to participate in illegal activities. Black males are not only prideful but they also put on a façade to the world that hinders their success. According to the same article, factors that contribute to a Black males success in college include “the ability to…becom[e] engaged on campus through leadership opportunities, the development of meaningful relationships with peers and mentors, and receiving ample familial and spiritual support.” In spite of the fact that, Black male students are often more successful at an HBCU because they feel more valued, they still have no chance to catch up with their female peers. They do not have the ambition and persistence to work hard particularly through the challenges that they face daily. They let their past failures, and their present obstacles define their future. Black males take the easy route and sell illegal drugs, commit robbery, gamble, rape and degrade women, and forget about the importance of their education, for a temporary relief. According to the article that is previously stated, “Black male attainment at HBCUs has declined by 6% in a single decade, and is currently hovering at 29%, in contrast with the 57% graduate rate of female counterparts.” In this article there is a study taken of 44 Black Males in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs at HBCUs. This

“Students who successfully adapt, establish social relationships with Whites, adjust to Black-White cultural differences, and cope with college

While overall college enrollment and graduation rates have risen for all minority groups, there continues to be concerns for this segment of the population, particularly for African American students. Even

A substantial amount of educational and psychological research has consistently demonstrated that African American students underperform academically relative to White students. For example, they tend to receive lower grades in school (e.g., Demo & Parker, 1987; Simmons, Brown, Bush, & Blyth, 1978), score lower on standardized tests of intellectual ability (e.g., Bachman, 1970; Herring, 1989; Reyes & Stanic, 1988; Simmons et al., 1978), drop out at higher rates (e.g., American Council on Education, 1990; Steele, 1992), and graduate from college with substantially lower grades than White students (e.g., Nettles, 1988). Such performance gaps can be attributed to

The Hispanic/Latino community has been known to be underrepresented on college campuses, both at the community college and four-year university level. Factors such as low-income households, poor or harsh living conditions, under-educated parents, cultural and family commitments, and unfamiliarity with the college process, all serve as unfortunate barriers that keep Hispanic/Latino students from reaching the goal of attaining college degrees. Although these barriers keep many students from succeeding, many others overcome these obstacles and continue on their paths to creating a better future for themselves. They choose to look past the expectations that society has for them and break out of the stereotypical mold. However, Hispanic/Latino students face, yet, another challenge upon successfully making it on to a college campus... the challenge of graduating.

These days, a college degree serves as one of the few tickets into a socially and economically comfortable lifestyle. College itself, ideally, should vastly increase the knowledge, skills, and capacity for critical thinking in its students. However, in this racially imbalanced society, college is the culmination of a white-weighted education, and often ignores its own participation in long-standing racial injustices and inequities. Minority students are expected to jump headlong into white standards of behavior, without regard for the unique circumstances that render that expectation difficult, if not impossible, to meet.

Some research on African American male students shows that they are at least three grades behind Whites in

In 1976 black students accounted for 1% and Hispanics made up .03% of total enrollment at two and four year colleges, while the percentage of whites enrolled was 83%. By 2011, both black and Hispanic enrollment had increased by 14% with white enrollment decreasing by 24%. These numbers illustrate that the black share of total enrollment between 1976 and 2011 almost doubled, the Hispanic share quadrupled and the White

Among the nation 's largest Division I universities, the graduation rate for black students was 44% in 2013, compared with 66% for white students (Marklein). This fact along with the article, A Letter to My Nephew, by James Baldwin from the stimulus material, sparked my interest. I began to research the general topic of African Americans in college. Baldwin wrote about the idea of white americans intentionally hindering the success of black americans. As he states that white americans did not expect african americans to aspire to excellence and made sure that african americans knew in as many ways as possible that they were worthless human beings. Researching more into this idea, I found a correlation between African American success

Many programs are targeted to support members of minority, low income, disabled, or first generation students (Kezar, 2000). The main focus of most programs is to give disadvantaged students the same chance of graduating as non-minority students (Ohland & Crockett, 2002). Several common factors play a role in impeding minority acclimation into the college environment, which include: a lack of academic preparation, a lack of peers with common characteristics, and financial need

Although situational attribution prevails dispositional attribution within the Black male community, there are incongruous instances in which Black men have overcome the stigmas, relishing the social, economic, and political mobility they have achieved. However, even with social stability many prominent Black professionals still endure disenfranchisement. Looking strictly at the academia within a Black community, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that, “A majority of African-American males in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades do not reach grade-level proficiency in reading, mathematics, history, and science,” (NCES, 2007, 2009). The hurdles

Low enrollment of Black students contributes to their often referenced unique and isolating experiences at tier-one institutions, and at predominately white institutions (PWI) in particular. This remains true even when compared to other traditionally marginalized groups. For example, Latino/a students comprise between 22 to 24% of the UT freshmen class compared to Black students at four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half percent. By representing nearly a quarter of the freshmen class, one can argue the experiences of Latino/as differs quite drastically from Black students. Therefore, this pilot study aims to give voice to and highlight the experiences of UT’s Black students during the college search process. As such, the major research questions this study seeks to address

Dr. Alon and Dr. Tienda found that the “mismatch” theory was not supported by the evidence from the surveys. African Americans and Hispanics performed as well as their white peers in terms of graduate rates and grade point