Graduation Speech : Changing Demographics

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.

The number of diverse students entering and graduating from post-secondary institutions is increasing at rapid rates (Education Trust, 2015; Georgetown University Center, 2012). Between the years 2003 and 2013, 77% of public institutions improved graduation rates for underrepresented groups, including African-American, Hispanic, and Native American students (Education Trust, 2015). Despite this increase, there continues to be a graduation gap between underrepresented minority students and White students. Nationally, 42% percent of Black students that enter college will graduate while 62% of White students will graduate (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2005). There is a similar graduation gap for college students who are the first in their family to attend college, or first-generation students. Sixty percent of first generation students that enter college will attend college for six years without receiving a bachelor’s degree (Smith, 2012). Historically underrepresented students and first generation students face unique challenges and hardships that can make graduation difficult (Hunter, Laursen & Seymour, 2007; Jett, Curry, & Vernon-Jackson, 2016; Schwartz, 2012). High impact practices such as the Ronal McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Program) are designed to increase historically disadvantages and first generation student learning and retention in college. An importance aspect of high impact programs such as the McNair

Being admitted into college is a difficult process, one that requires students to be diligent in their studies, engage in a number of extracurricular activities, and overcome the everyday pressures and challenges that high-schoolers face across the country. Admittedly, not everyone in the United States is born with the same opportunities as socioeconomic factors as well as historic injustices have contributed to a society in which some people are far more likely to achieve upward mobility – of which, obtaining a college degree is a necessary part – than others. While there is need to rectify this reality,

The Table provides the exact percentage on graduation by race for the state and national level. Asians had the highest graduation rate, followed by whites, then Hispanics and Latinos, and ending with Blacks. On the state Level there is a 12.2 percent difference between the groups with higher rates and those with lower. However, on the National level there is a 15 percent

Eight college students attending the University of Louisville were interviewed. Within this group, half were females and the other half were males. Among the females, two were biracial and the other were African American. Of the individuals who

A few weeks ago, I was assigned to give a speech in my communications class about my background. After giving my speech, my professor excitedly approached me and said “wow, that was very inspirational. When I saw you, I thought you were just a privileged, pretty boy whose parents worked in the tech industry.” Believe it or not, this is not the first time I have gotten this reaction.

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

Understanding “more Americans from every color and creed are now earning college educations so college faculty should reflect that” (Lynch, 2013, para. 2) efforts have been placed to identify areas that would be able to reach diverse groups to include women and minority applicants. These efforts will allow for a further range in a variety of sectors to include job boards, social media outlets, and mobile applications in addition to advertising on the Sincere College Career Site. The below have been

However, due to the relentless significance of race, many unavoidable social issues have arisen. According to the "Missouri State University Diversity Report" provided by the office of institutional research in Missouri state university, by Fall 2016, the percentage of white ethnicity students among the total students is 80%, and the percentage of Nonresident alien students among the total students is 0.06%, which I am a member of

Growing up, it is easy to imagine the future playing out something like this: attend college, score that dream job, get rich, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. It all sounds pretty familiar, however many young adults find that life does not always happen so simply. There are horror stories everywhere. Students graduate, fail to find a job in their field as they expected, and are left feeling hopeless as their credit card and loan bills pile sky high. Take Paige Nichols for example. Paige grew up in a family that was well-off financially. Her parents were able to pay for her two younger siblings’ college educations and, like many middle class children, she was used to getting what she wanted. However, by the time it was her turn to go to college, her parents’ financial situation had gone downhill and she was left to pay for her education by herself. After four years she graduated with a business degree and $20,000 in debt to go with it. Her payment plan was set at $300 per month, and although she had jobs, she was used to living frivolously, and therefore only made the bare minimum payment of $50 most months. This left her in a position where she would remain in debt until she was 50 years old. A few years after graduating with her bachelor’s, she considered going back for her master’s in forensic psychology, something she had grown very fond of. However, since she was already inundated with student debt and could not afford to spend an extra

Meanwhile, the student population at Rensselaer consists of over 2/3 white and Asian students. The statistics is indeed an issue for Young but

When dealing with different races like Hispanic and black students we are less likely than a white student parent that will attend general meeting or school events I’m not saying just because you are this race you aren’t going to attend meeting for your child, I’m saying that dealing with other races you might see a lot of them attending the meeting but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about their child education. Because they do in “2012, 85 percent of black, and 86 percent of Hispanic students had parents who attended a general meeting”, then you have to compare “Sixty-eight percent of Black, and 64 percent of Hispanic students had a parent who attended school event,” as you can see there is a lot of different numbering when dealing with parents and students of different races I don’t have a reason why these parents did not attend any meeting but it could be several reason why like transportation, not involved, non- English so cannot understand. there is many reasons and valuables to why they didn’t attend but it still doesn’t have any proof that it truly effects child education. “In a study that was cited by the SEDL by meta- analysis, the Gutman and Midgely (2002)” when they had examined on many factors that involved combination of research, of parent and school involvement had a strong effect on grades of low-income African American students.

For every five students there is one teacher. Graduation rates vary on gender, race, religion, etc. The percentage for females is 88% for 4 years and 89% for 6 years. The percentage for males is 89% for 4 years and 94% for 6 years. Race has many different varieties of percentages. The total amount of students for the different races is 102; the races are, hispanic/latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black/african American, pacific Islander, or white. The percentage rate for 4 years is 88%, while it is 92% for 6 years. The different type of money sources that will help you pay tuition varies from 93%, 85%, and 89% for 4 years. For 6 years it is 93%, 89%, and 95% for 6

Second, we realize the Texas Christian University student body seems overly opinionated and remains fairly similar to one another. For example, the demographics at TCU can be stereotyped into primarily Caucasian, wealthy students, primarily females. We address this not to agree or disagree with the disposition, but to recognize how the majority of the students we survey might share similar interests or opinions because of their cultural

In our current economic recession, the term “middle class” is almost non-existent in everyday vocabulary. The so-called middle class was a term that was used to describe the people in our society who were not part of the rich and wealthy class, but was also higher up in the socioeconomic ladder above the poverty line. Now the term isn’t used as much as other terms like, “hard working taxpayers” or “everyday Americans” (Chozick). Today, it 's not as easy as just working hard, you now need money and experience in order to get anywhere in this society. That also might sound easy, but the problem is that in order to get a job that will help you sustain your life you need work experience, but in order to get work experience you need a job. Most people don’t accept volunteers anymore in order to just gain some experience in a field. Jobs want you to have years of relatable work experience as soon as you finish college.