(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON - Since the civil rights movement, racial minorities have made great strides in the world of higher education. Yet when it comes to graduating on time, many are still at a disadvantage.
Even as college enrollment among minorities continues to rise, the latest figures from the Department of Education's graduation rate survey show a significant gap in rates for black and Hispanic students compared to their white peers.
About 39 percent of blacks and 42 percent of Latinos at all degree-granting institutions who first enrolled in 1996 graduated within six years, compared to 58 percent of whites and 55 percent of students overall. Four-year rates reveal the same disparities, with whites graduating at a 36 percent rate and blacks and Hispanics both at 19 percent.
School administrators said the primary reasons are cultural. Mary Cothran, director of multi-ethnic student education at the University of Maryland -- where six-year rates for black students are 17 percent lower than those for whites -- said minority students often receive inferior college preparation at a high school level, putting them at a disadvantage.
"I think it's possibly related to the schools these students attended before they came (to college)," said Cothran. "They may not have had the same level of preparation for higher education as some of the other students."
Augmenting the problem is a general feeling of isolation, particularly at more selective institutions, which tend to be less diverse. In a campus environment that is majority white, black and Hispanic students may feel alienated, putting them at a particular risk.
"These are students who are on the margins financially and who have not had the most rigorous curriculum," said Eugene Anderson, senior research associate for the American Council on Education and author of several studies on minorities in higher education. "If you add that to being put on a campus that is often very different from the environment they are from, then it does make for a very challenging situation for black and Latino students."
Even as college enrollment among minorities continues to rise, the latest figures from the Department of Education's graduation rate survey show a significant gap in rates for black and Hispanic students compared to their white peers.
About 39 percent of blacks and 42 percent of Latinos at all degree-granting institutions who first enrolled in 1996 graduated within six years, compared to 58 percent of whites and 55 percent of students overall. Four-year rates reveal the same disparities, with whites graduating at a 36 percent rate and blacks and Hispanics both at 19 percent.
School administrators said the primary reasons are cultural. Mary Cothran, director of multi-ethnic student education at the University of Maryland -- where six-year rates for black students are 17 percent lower than those for whites -- said minority students often receive inferior college preparation at a high school level, putting them at a disadvantage.
"I think it's possibly related to the schools these students attended before they came (to college)," said Cothran. "They may not have had the same level of preparation for higher education as some of the other students."
Augmenting the problem is a general feeling of isolation, particularly at more selective institutions, which tend to be less diverse. In a campus environment that is majority white, black and Hispanic students may feel alienated, putting them at a particular risk.
"These are students who are on the margins financially and who have not had the most rigorous curriculum," said Eugene Anderson, senior research associate for the American Council on Education and author of several studies on minorities in higher education. "If you add that to being put on a campus that is often very different from the environment they are from, then it does make for a very challenging situation for black and Latino students."
