AP, March 28, 2009
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An Associated Press analysis of government data on the 83 federally designated four-year HBCUs shows just 37 percent of their black students finish a degree within six years. That’s 4 percentage points lower than the national college graduation rate for black students.
One major reason: the struggles of black men. Just 29 percent of HBCU males complete a bachelor’s degree within six years, the AP found.
A few HBCUs, like Howard and all-female Spelman, have much higher graduation rates, exceeding the national averages for both black and white students. But others are clustered among the worst-performing colleges in the country. At 38 HBCUs, fewer than one in four men who started in 2001 had completed a bachelor’s degree by 2007, the data show. At Texas Southern, Voorhees, Edward Waters and Miles College, the figure was under 10 percent.
To be sure, women are outperforming men across education, and many non-HBCUs struggle with low graduation rates. And the rates don’t account for students who transfer or take more than six years, which may be more common at HBCUs than at other schools.
Broad consequences
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Still, HBCUs’ low completion rates, especially for men, have broad consequences, on and off campus. Women account for more than 61 percent of HBCU students, the AP found. They have unprecedented leadership opportunities, but also pay a price—in everything from one-sided classroom discussions to competition for dates.
HBCUs educate only one-quarter of black college students, but produce an outsized number of future black graduate students and leaders. That group is distinctly female; HBCUs award twice as many degrees to women as to men.
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HBCUs receive more than half their revenue from government. There is growing frustration with the waste of money—for students and taxpayers—when students have nothing to show for their time in college. President Barack Obama wants to return the United States to the top rank of college attainment by 2020. That will never happen if the colleges that do the heavy lifting of educating disadvantaged groups don’t perform better.
Even some within the tight-knit HBCU community say the schools bear some responsibility. They say too many HBCUs have grown content offering students a chance at college, but resisting the hard work to get them through.
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‘Big Man on Campus’
Glancing around her classes at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis and in the stands at basketball games, sophomore Velma Maclin has noticed something odd. Most of the so-called “Big Men on Campus” are women.
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On 17 HBCU campuses there are two women for every man. At a few, the ratio is three-to-one.
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It sounds like easy living for men at HBCUs, and some joke about the advantages.
“You have so many beautiful women around you (that) you get to see and so many to pick from. The net is real wide,” laughed Eric Jefferson, a senior at North Carolina Central University in Durham, which is two-thirds women.
But while HBCU women are doing relatively well, many note the lack of gender diversity in their classes. The gender gap also weighs heavily on social life.
For many HBCU women, said Monet Phillips, an N.C. Central senior, the feeling is: “Even though that I’m the Monday woman, I’m going to be the best Monday woman so that when he’s with the Tuesday woman or the Wednesday woman then he’ll be thinking of me.”
Money matters
Like their counterparts at any college, HBCU women enjoy rewarding, lifelong friendships. But the competition for men can sometimes strain.
“It’s sad to say, but in the African-American community, it’s hard enough for women to get along without the issue of men,” said Bridgette Alexis, a LeMoyne-Owen freshman from Springfield, Mass. “You throw a small percentage of guys into the picture, and women who are looking and hoping to have boyfriends and relationships, and there’s not enough for everybody to have one. So that just makes the situation worse.”
Why do so many men drop out? Money is the reason you hear most. More than six in 10 students at the HBCUs the AP analyzed get Pell Grants, which go mostly to students from families earning under $30,000.
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At Edward Waters, virtually every student takes developmental courses—essentially, to finish the high school education they never fully received. Only then can they start progressing toward a college degree.
Cultural factors
To explain the particular struggles of men, educators point to a range of cultural factors that affect black men everywhere, but which are especially visible at HBCUs.
Men have fewer role models, and also seem to think they have more opportunities without a degree. Educators also describe a constant battle against two poisonous ideas: that black men can’t succeed, or that if they do they are somehow less than genuine.
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‘Urgency varies’
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, which represents 39 private HBCUs, said on its Web site the “average graduation rate at HBCU(s) is higher than the average graduation rate for African-Americans at majority institutions”—a claim that is contradicted, both for HBCUs and UNCF members, by the AP’s findings.
After inquiries from the AP, the organization removed that statement.
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Original article
(Posted on March 30, 2009)
Comments
An Associated Press analysis of government data on the 83 federally designated four-year HBCUs…
I thought there was no such thing as race, that it was merely a social construct. How can the national government of a country that supposedly believes such a thing turn right around and classify 83 institutions of lower living with the moniker of a social construct?
This is a genetic defect black men have that black women don’t. Quite similar in nature to the gene gay men inherit from their mothers. I feel for these black men, but it can’t be helped. You can’t fight genetic science.
And of these black male “graduates”, how many are affirmative action cases that were coddled?
And how many have become surgeons, oncologists, etc?…what a horrible thought.
I would be nervous even with a black anesthesiologist who was going to put me under before a surgery…is he some black militant underachiever who went to one of these all black universities?
I have noticed among my own classmates that black women do seem to try somewhat harder on average than black men. It amazes me how many young black males just want to play basketball, and that is it.
Yet this is not an exclusively black problem. I am noticing among the young doctors that I see that the women were apparently more willing than the men to just struggle through, and I suspect that it is because colleges (and high schools) put so much emphasis on sports. The ladies at the front of the female line get in based primarily upon their academic records. A male student with a good academic record might not be one of the leading male candidates for admission because the ball players are up front.
“HBCUs educate only one-quarter of black college students, but produce an outsized number of future black graduate students and leaders.”
Keep in mind that these 6-year graduates are the very best and brightest; the future black doctors, lawyers, and even presidents. Remember their educational background when someone tries to refer you to a black doctor ot lawyer.
Statistics show that there are less men going to college than women period.
This is true of all races with the exception of Asians.
“Just 29 percent finish bachelor’s degree in six years.”
If they were graded by the same standards as whites, the percentage would likely drop to around 3-4%.
The greatest cruelty imaginable is by liberals against blacks for it is they who vehemently convince blacks that there’s no difference between the races of the earth. Such despicable lies have caused considerable crime and suffering among black people against whites, because blacks believe that, since they are the equal of everyone, it must be whitey’s fault they can’t succeed.
Of course, this perpetrated evil by the leftist fanatics have also caused the deaths and suffering of millions of whites at the hands of black criminals who are constantly on the prowl for paybacks.
Liberalism will go down in history as the evilist ideology ever in the history of mankind. Communism, Fascism, and Nazism, were pikers by comparison.
“Cultural factors
“HBCUs receive more than half their revenue from government. There is growing frustration with the waste of money”
We’re still awaiting the payoff from this investment.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
If anyone even whispered the phrase, “Historically White Colleges and Universities”, the Department of Justice and the courts would force them to be less white.
Have you ever noticed how when something is labeled ‘historically black’, it needs to be preserved at all cost, while anything that is ‘historically white’ must be destroyed?
The Black Golden Rule: That which is white must be made black. That which is black must remain black.
I’ll bet you could even bring up the above race double standard during a case before the Supreme Court and that fact would be summarily dismissed, ignored, or declared irrelevant.
Just another form of welfare, if we are all paying for black men to play around in school. Meanwhile, nobody is worried about making sure White guys are getting help with their education.
I suppose we’ll have to re-write the old joke: What are the best three years of a Black man’s life? Freshman year.
It takes “six years” to finish a bachelor’s degree? Since when?
And only a meager 29% make it? Are you kidding me?
ginny and anonymous:
You are correct. I look at it as a more male problem than race problem. I am a retired militray vet who takes courses at my local college for the joy of doing so. I noticed last fall when I walked into my classroom. I was struck by how many more women there were than men!
Men of all races (maybe Asians are an exception) are simply falling farther and farther behind women. This does not bode well for our nation.
Does the MSM care about the many qualified White males who can’t get into college and the many who graduate and are denied good jobs because of Diversity and immigration? I don’t think so.
It’s that true many Black guys, who flunk out, were only admitted because of affirmative action, but many flunk out because they spend too much time in social/sexual activities. From the article, there is much temptation, and Blacks are not good at resisting temptation.
“For many HBCU women, said Monet Phillips, an N.C. Central senior, the feeling is: ‘Even though that I’m the Monday woman, I’m going to be the best Monday woman so that when he’s with the Tuesday woman or the Wednesday woman then he’ll be thinking of me.’ “
Wow, I can’t believe someone could actually be stupid enough to say that to a reporter.
I’m for expanding the enrollment at HBCU. It keeps them off our campuses.
A degree is a terrible thing to waste. On a thug.
Nothing new here then. The “celebrated terrorist” who did well, Nelson Nandela, writes in his book “The Long Walk to Freedon” that even coming from a pivileged family, he took 6 years to complete a 3-year lawyer’s course. I agree that it is frighteneing to think that such qualified people as dewscibed above are able to make decisions in life as their determination and abilities usually are life long habits and facts.
I teach college and see the results of HBC students who transfer in. Sad and a waste. Of course any honest evaluation of these students is forbidden. They always want a “review” which I have figured out means giving them the answers to the test in advance. If this is the norm at HBC why do so few graduate. I know they need more gov. $.
I too have seen that black women do try harder than black men. I think more men than women in general feel they can make money without a degree but as I said, I do notice that black women do try a lot harder, the black males, a lot of them don’t bother too much.
Forget the blacks, the real problem with “college” education in America effects all of us. The bottom line is that excessive egalitarianism has driven our society to believe that the undergraduate degree is critical to achieving a decent living in America. The colleges love this as it allows them to make tons of money while constantly raising their tuition well beyond any level of inflation. There are too many people of all races struggling to get undergraduate degrees that even if they get them have no real correlation to what they will end up doing to make a living and will provide little increase if any in pay.
We need to recognize that everybody doesn’t need college to be productive workers in society. The college degree has become what a High School diploma used to be, a guarantee that a person can at least read, write and do basic math. These skills should be learned in High School. My brother got his college degree and he makes his living as a contractor and carpenter. My grandfather also built houses but didn’t need college and a tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to do the same work. There is tremendous pressure on young people to participate in the scam of college when it has little real benefit to most of them. The excessive number of college graduates then allows employers to demand a college degree for many of their job positions although they know it is not really needed. Companies constantly complain that colleges don’t prepare graduates for the work place and that they have to provide real training for all their recent graduate hires.
Now I am not against learning, personally I have a lifetime commitment to learning and I have read many more good books since I left college than when I was in it. What I am against is the idea that a person can’t make a decent living without a college degree. I for one am sick of empowering the Ward Churchill’s and Noel Ignatiev’s of the world. Why not skip the whole diploma mill socialist indoctrination scam and hire promising students right out of high school?
Look at these two facts from the article:
1. Just 29 percent of HBCU males complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.
2. HBCUs receive more than half their revenue from government.
This means we taxpayers are paying for some very, very expensive baby-sitting for 70% of the black males at these colleges.
I saw some interesting research while working at UCLA. A study was conducted to determine the gender of those buying new cars. The data was broken down by racial groups and low and behold — every ethnic group in the study, EXCEPT BLACKS, had a much higher rate of male than female auto purchasers.
The fun part comes when the libs see research like this. How does one blame whites unless they have found some way to discriminate against black males more than black females? Answer — it’s a cultural thing. Education is a white thing, eh?
BigSteve
Why do so many men drop out? Money is the reason you hear most. More than six in 10 students at the HBCUs the AP analyzed get Pell Grants, which go mostly to students from families earning under $30,000.
Not taking 6 or 8 years to graduate would probably reduce the cost of college. Also it might be worth it in the long run if you took classes in say business, instead of black studies.
Sadly, many White Males are avoiding college now. For one, if you’re poor and White and Male, there is virtually no assistance available.
Secondly, you must sit through classes where a professor tells you how “evil” you are and, how all of the world’s problems were caused by you. There are no “feel-good” classes for White Males. Even in traditional Western Civ and European History-related courses, White Males are put down — despite that none of us would be sitting here typing if it weren’t for them!
Nobody ever talks about this!
“I’m for expanding the enrollment at HBCU. It keeps them off our campuses.”
Sounds like a good idea to me too, sorry to say. But doesn’t it also keep the commitment to diversity going non-stop at all colleges, Black and white? Commitment to diversity being a pro-color stance at the expense of whites. Especially at the expense of whites. Aren’t there more Majority Black Colleges now than there are the separate category, Historically Black Colleges?
There is an ignored fact: Why do the leaders of U.S. society think it is beneficial put these men in college?
Most of these men have I.Q.’s between 90 and 110. This is somewhat below what is needed for the jobs for which college is necessary. They do have the mental capacity for many other jobs that are vital to the U.S. economy: electricians, plumbers, carpentry, mechanics, truck drivers, managers, skilled factory workers, etc., and etc. These were the jobs that allowed many Blacks to enter the economic middle class in post WWII America. I know, because I was there. They were making good (Union) wages, and were proud of being worth what they were paid.
I don’t have any sympathy for Blacks who get good jobs for which they are unqualified because of Diversity, but I do have some empathy for a Black guy in such a position, who is incompetent and considered “special”. He is treated with pseudo respect, but ridiculed behind his back. Blacks are very perceptive of their social position, generally more so then White men, so he knows the score. He may try to compensate by social aggressiveness and/or by being deliberately and ostentatiously useless. I think that he would be happier if he were in a job where he was competent and respected by his co-workers, particularly if the pay was better. But that’s just my opinion, based on the way Black guys were in 1960.
Actually, the average IQ of black males in college(not counting jumpers and runners)is somewhere between 80 and 90. That’s why it takes 6 years, and that’s why it’s difficult to get jobs with majors in “African Studies”….
Enough said:
To “Enough” — back in the old days, companies could give prospective employees aptitude tests (IQ tests) before they bothered to spend the time to interview them. This is no longer legal. You can give a typing test and basic grammar test to someone who will be doing secretarial work, but you can’t ask people to take a general knowledge test or IQ test before you hire them. Any test that you give has to be DIRECTLY connected to the work that will be performed. A few companies are known to ask difficult technical question ORALLY, but nothing is in writing anymore.
As soon as aptitude tests for employment were thrown out (the 70s) then college became obligatory for anyone who didn’t want to be stuck as a file clerk for life.
Black women do better than their male counterparts because the head of the household is usually a black woman, a role model for black women, while black males do not have male role models.
“This is a genetic defect black men have that black women don’t. Quite similar in nature to the gene gay men inherit from their mothers. I feel for these black men, but it can’t be helped. You can’t fight genetic science.
Posted by Anonymous at 6:03 PM on March 30”
Unlike the gene for IQ, there is no gene for “gayness”. It would have died out long ago because gay men would have no children to pass it on to.
One thing this story leaves out is that many black men go to HBCU’s for the sole purpose of joining a black fraternity. Unlike white fraternities, membership in these fraternities is for life and is a huge part of the black social structure in this country.
This is a genetic defect black men have that black women don’t. Quite similar in nature to the gene gay men inherit from their mothers. I feel for these black men, but it can’t be helped. You can’t fight genetic science.
Posted by Anonymous at 6:03 PM on March 30
This is nonsense. Are you aware that this current tide of the stark superiority of black women over black men started in the 1960s? In Africa, black men outperform black women, although you may argue that there are conditions are stifle the development of women. Furthermore, there is/are no gay gene(s).
“The bottom line is that excessive egalitarianism has driven our society to believe that the undergraduate degree is critical to achieving a decent living in America. The colleges love this as it allows them to make tons of money while constantly raising their tuition well beyond any level of inflation. There are too many people of all races struggling to get undergraduate degrees that even if they get them have no real correlation to what they will end up doing to make a living and will provide little increase if any in pay.”
It’s the same situation in every western country. Most people with undergraduate degrees don’t actually need them for what they end up doing. For example, most travel agents, retail managers and many government clerks have degrees, even though their work requires no serious abstract thought.
If we had a less egalitarian society we could simply give people aptitute tests for most run of the mill jobs requires basic literacy and numerarcy.
Sure, some people go to university because they have a high level of intellectual curiosity rather than for purely financial reasons. However, judging by the limited amount of interesting weblogs written relative to the amount of graduates, it seems most graduates aren’t that intellectually curious.
“…it seems that most graduates aren’t that intellectually curious.” mike at 9:55 PM.
“Why do so many men drop out? Money is the reason you hear most. More than six in 10 students at the HBCUs the AP analyzed get Pell Grants, which go mostly to students from families earning under $30,000.”
Nah. They don’t want to work hard and they did nothing in High School so they are taking college courses, albeit easier than those in real private and public colleges, with grammar school math and English skills.
So. Why should these day care centers receive one dime of federal or state money? Why should these six year olds in 20 year old bodies receive any Pell grants or loans or God forbid, private scholarships? Answer: they shouldn’t.
Shut these academic slums down; give the “students” intensive high school courses in reading, business skills and math. Send many of them into military service if they don’t have criminal records. Offer agricultural training to some. And for god’s sakes, tell the ones who studied African or Black Studies that they are unemployable, and that taking courses in house painting, building construction and landscaping will do more for black people than the thoughts of Eric Dyson. I contribute a Bach CD to every ex-black college student who switches to a useful trade class and buy him her a complete top of the line Sears tool kit if they graduate.
