Thursday, May 09, 2013

Average Graduation Rates of Black Students at Public HBCUs

HBCUs are located in 20 states and 2 territories, mostly in the Southern United States. This note reports the weighted averages of the 6-year graduation rates of black students enrolled in 4-year HBCU programs by states and territories, where the weights are the black enrollments in the HBCUs in each state or territory. It finds that the average graduation rates for public HBCUs in some states and territories are substantially higher than the average graduation rates in other states and territories. These substantial differences suggest the possibility that changes in the public policies of the lagging states and territories might raise the graduation rates of the black students enrolled in the public HBCUs in those states and territories. (Note: Source of  black enrollments and graduation rates for the HBCUs = IPEDS Data Center)

A previous note on this blog enabled readers to compare the black student enrollments and their 6-year graduation rates at each of the HBCUs that offer four year bachelors degree programs. (See Graduation Rates of HBCUs -- Public & Private by States). The present note enables readers to compare the black enrollments and graduation rates in public and private HBCUs by states and territories.

Table 1 (below) provides a high level overview of all HBCUs. Column (2) shows the total number of black students enrolled in private HBCUs and public HBCUs in the Fall 2011; column (3) shows the share of black enrollments in private vs. public HBCUs; and column (4) shows the weighted 6-year average graduation rates of all private HBCUs in all states vs. the weighted 6-year average graduation rate of all public HBCUs -- where the weights are the black student enrollments in the public and private HBCUs, respectively. Please note the following differences:
  • The public HBCUs enroll more than twice as many black students as the private HBCUs, i.e., 69% in public HBCUs vs. 31% in private HBCUs
     
  • The average graduation rates of black students in private HBCUs is 7 percent higher than the average graduation rates of black students in public HBCUs, i.e., 39% for private HBCUs vs. 31% for public HBCUs.
Table 1. Overview of Black Enrollments and Graduation Rates
HBCUs
Black
Enrollment
Fall 2011
(2)
Share
(3)
Weighted
6-Year
Graduation
Rates
(4)
Private
61707
31%
39%
Public
140131
69%
32%
Total
201838
100%
34%


Table 2 (below) contains four columns of data. The first column contains a list of the HBCU states and territories; column (2) contains the total number of HBCUs in each state, followed by the number of private  and public HBCUs; column (3) contains the number of black students enrolled in all of the private and public HBCUs in each state; and column (4) contains the 6-year weighted averages of the private and public HBCUs in each state, where the weights are the black student enrollments in the private and public HBCUs in each state.

The states are listed in the order of the average 6-year graduation rates of their public HBCUs; in case of ties by the number of public HBCUs; and in case of additional ties by the alphabetical order of their names. Please note the following differences:
  • The leading states -- North Carolina 40% and Florida 40% -- have average 6-year graduation rates that are two to three times as high as the lagging states -- Missouri 18%, District of Columbia 17%, and Oklahoma 12%.
     
  • Whereas one might have expected to find that the graduation rates for private HBCUs would  usually be higher than the average graduation rates of the public HBCUs in each state, this is not the case. Of the 12 states that have both public and private HBCUs, the average grad rates for private HBCUs is higher than the public rates in six states -- Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and the District of Columgia; but the public HBCUs also lead the private HBCUs in six states -- North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas.

Table 2. Average 6-Year Graduation Rates of Public & Private HBCUs by States
States … Private/Public … HBCUs
Fall 2011
# HBCUs
(2)
Black
Enrollment
4-Year
Degree
Programs
(3)
Black
 6-Year
Grad.
Rates
(4)
North Carolina
10
29257

private
5
6288
30%
public
5
22969
40%
Florida
4
15541

private
3
5098
35%
public
1
10443
40%
Mississippi
5
13070

private
2
1778
38%
public
3
11292
36%
Georgia
7
18525

private
4
7760
52%
public
3
10765
35%
Virginia
6
16045

private
4
6068
52%
public
2
9977
35%
Delaware
1
2840

public
1
2840
35%
South Carolina
6
10625

private
5
7077
29%
public
1
3548
35%
Tennessee
5
8882

private
4
3549
31%
public
1
5333
35%
Pennsylvania
2
2434

public
2
2434
33%
Maryland
4
15406

public
4
15406
29%
Alabama
9
16838

private
7
8393
31%
public
2
8445
29%
Louisiana
4
15040

private
2
3301
45%
public
2
11739
26%
Virgin Islands
1
1706

public
1
1706
26%
Texas
7
15333

private
5
3411
16%
public
2
11922
23%
West Virginia
2
528

public
2
528
23%
Arkansas
3
4675

private
2
1808
15%
public
1
2867
23%
Ohio
2
2893

private
1
563
30%
public
1
2330
23%
Kentucky
1
1322

public
1
1322
22%
Missouri
2
2625

public
2
2625
18%
District of Columbia
2
8936

private
1
6808
61%
public
1
2128
17%
Oklahoma
1
1980

public
1
1980
12%
Grand Total
84
201838
34%

_______________
Related Notes:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you!!! Your comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated ... :-)