More blacks attending college, but still underrepresented

Jet, March 17, 1997

More and more Black students are attending college, however, the number of Blacks, enrolled is still disproportionate, according to a report.

Black enrollment increased from 8.8 percent in 1984 to 10.1 Percent in 1994. But Blacks represent 12.6 percent of the national population and 14.3 percent of the traditional college-age population, according to The African American Education Data Book, which is compiled by the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute of The College Fund/UNCF.

The report, The Status of Education in Black America, Volume I: Higher and Adult Education, found that many of the gains are due to huge increases in participation by Black women, including a 219 percent increase in the percentage of Black women obtaining first-professional degrees.

These gains occurred despite barriers. Black college students have lower family incomes with a majority of them falling in the bottom quarter of American household incomes. And a smaller share of Blacks attended their first choice schools. Black students had lower levels of parental education, lower grade point averages and lower standardized test scores.

The percentage of Blacks who received doctorates in education and theology were nearly double the percentage of Whites, and law and medicine attracted a higher proportion of Blacks than any other race. However, Blacks were less represented at all degree levels in technical fields such as engineering, physics and life science.