I’ve written before (here, here, and here, for example) about how even accurate statistics about minority graduation rates can be misleading. I don’t like repeating myself (well, maybe I do, but I generally try to avoid doing so), but since the same old statistics continue to be touted I feel justified now in doing so.
The touting at issue concerns the fact that the University of Virginia boasts (literally) of having the highest minority graduation rate of any public university, at around 87%, which is also even higher than at several Ivy League institutions. This accomplishment has been confirmed again, and so the touting has been published again.
For the 12th straight year, U.Va. has posted the highest graduation rate for African-American students among major public institutions, according to an annual survey published in March by the Journal of Blacks in Higher
Education.
Data published in the journal show that the six-year graduation rate for African-American students who entered U.Va. in the fall of 1998 is 86 percent.
U.Va. is the only public institution in the top 20 of all colleges and universities and is the leader among flagship state universities, according to the journal, which used statistics compiled by the NCAA.
The next-highest rates among the flagship universities were 70 percent at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of New Hampshire, 69 percent at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and 67 percent at the University of Michigan.
First, let me say, again, that graduating the highest percentage of minorities of any major public university (and higher than many private ones as well) is indeed a real accomplishment. It is one of which both The University and its minority graduates can be proud. And let me also say (I don’t think I said this before), that the 67% rate at the University of Michigan is disgusting. UM spent untold thousands of dollars in its successful effort to defend the right to discriminate on the basis of race, but it obviously lacks the interest, will, or ability to see to it that the minority students for whom it lowered the admissions bar actually get an education and graduate. Those short-changed students are no more than emblems of UM’s liberalism, easily discarded once they have served their purpose of jacking up the “diversity” numbers.
Returning to UVa’s accomplishment, however, let me point out a less rosy look at its numbers, quoting now from one of my earlier posts:
… taking UVa’s most recent data … , 13% of the blacks who entered in 1998 failed to graduate in six years, compared to 6% of the whites and 6% of the Asians. Put another, less optimistic way, blacks failed to graduate at a rate over twice as high as whites and Asians.
And now let me add a couple of points I did not make in my earlier posts. I’ve just found these numbers that break down UVA’a 87% minority graduation rate in a fascinating manner. Of those students who entered UVa in the fall of 1997, 92% of the black females but only 78% of the black males had graduated after six years. (Among whites, six year graduation rate was 95% for females and 91% for males, or a total of 93%, and the numbers for Asians were virtually the same.) It would be interesting to know to what degree the graduation rate for black males was substantially lower because of athletes not graduating.
And finally, here’s one other matter I did not discuss earlier, because the New York Times article from which it is taken was just published. [Note: If you do not subscribe to the fee-based New York Times Select, you can find the text of this article here.] In discussing the graduation rate report published in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the Times reports:
Bruce Slater, managing editor of the journal, said the University of Virginia’s success in graduating blacks was a result of the financial assistance the institution gives its lowest-income students. In 2004, the university began giving grants instead of loans for certain low-income students and increasing grants for middle-income students.
“The fact that they don’t have to worry about money definitely contributes to the higher graduation rate,” Mr. Slater said, referring to black students
Does “certain low-income students” mean black low-income students? If so, The University may once again be skirting close to a Podberesky problem.
Graduating people simply means issuing enough credit hours to grant a diploma. Students can pass a course with a D without doing any work in many places. Further, it is virtually impossible to flunk students without incurring a professional penalty (student, department, and deans all complaining).
So why would mere graduation per se mean anything? If students paid the tuition and fees, and showed up a couple of times to class per term, they will get a diploma. What exactly does that mean?
I’ll ask some uncomfortable questions, given the disparity in passing rates between black women and black men.
1) What percentage of black men fail to graduate because they are incarcerated due to criminal activity?
2) What percentage of black men fail to graduate because they are members of the US military deployed in teh War on Terror?
3) What percentage of black men fail to graduate because they are athletes who lose scholarships or eligibility and tehrefore quit college?
4) What percentage of black men fail to graduate because they have one or more children (legitimate or illegitimate) to support?
5) What percentage of black men fail to graduate because they are not academically competent to attend the college or university at which they enrolled under a special program?
6) What percentage of black men fail to graduate because they lack the economic resources to complete their degree program?
I put these questions out there, because they are all factors which I see as potentially impacting graduation by black males. Some are positive reasons for not graduating, some neutral, and some negative.
Does anyone have answers? Does anyone have other questions/factors to consider?
And I would love to know how the numbers, if they exist, compare to other gender/racial groups.
I have another question: How many black men fail to graduate because they do not want to put up with the condescending attitude that now prevails at American Universities because of AA, feminism, etc?
Of course, the same can be asked of white men, who are also “under-represented” at Universities.
None of these numbers sound right to me. Particularly for public institutions, which generally have relatively more liberal admission policies (e.g., anyone graduating in the top 50% from an in-state high school), it just seems very unlikely to me that the graduation rates can be anywhere near the reported levels. What “adjustments” are being made to the numbers?
“What “adjustments” are being made to the numbers?”
After decades in college classrooms, I am not kidding when I say that at many schools, it is virtually impossible to flunk anyone anymore. What further “adjustments” are necessary to secure inflated graduations rates? I am frankly astonished that we do not have 100% graduation rates. The only thing I can figure is that some people literally never make an appearance in class. If they do, they will demand a diploma based on the simple fact that they paid for it and showed up a few times. And do you know what? Schools will unhesitatingly capitulate to that logic or go out of business.
Being the parent of two college kids who work like crazy to pay tuition and stay in school (both with high GPA’s)I think that some of the students who are given the opportunity to advance to college through scholarships or grants simply do not take it seriously. And it seems to be worse for athletes that for students in the general population. When you look at graduation rates for students athletes and compare them to team success, there’s a pretty serious disparity. That’s not to say a student cannot achieve on the field AND in the classroom, but I have personally taught students in high school who were TOTALLY unprepared for high school,much less college, and were given full ride scholarships BECAUSE THEY WERE ATHLETES. I am talking of students who could not read or write on a sixth grade level. On the other hand, I have seen good students, such as my own kids, who are often working two or more jobs AND taking killer class loads in order to succeed. While only 1% or so of the student athletes will go on to professional teams, all students will probably need to get a job and work when they graduate. I have no sympathy for students of any color who take a scholarship for granted and play around until their eligibility runs out or they fail according to NCAA standards. If it’s racist to deny a student an education according to his or her abilities, isn’t it also wrong to squander a scholarship when someone else could have used that to succeed?
Ellen writes:
>>>”When you look at graduation rates for students athletes and compare them to team success, there’s a pretty serious disparity. That’s not to say a student cannot achieve on the field AND in the classroom, but I have personally taught students in high school who were TOTALLY unprepared for high school,much less college, and were given full ride scholarships BECAUSE THEY WERE ATHLETES.”
I agree with a lot of what you say here, but the sad truth is, you won’t see this system change until the debate team or math club can sell out stadiums and arenas, and generate millions in revenue for an institution.
–Cobra
Cobra,
But it’s very easy to fix it. Just don’t let high schools graduate kids who can’t “read or write on a sixth-grade level.” The “system” is aided and abetted by high schools that don’t much care whether their graduates have learned squat.
The real solution is for the pros to establish their own farm teams, rather than forcing potential pro athletes through an academic program they couldn’t care less about, and tying universities to a pathetic series of charades designed to make the gullible think that their scholarship athletes are so learning something.
I am not convinced, by the way, that athletics is a net money-maker for most institutions. And if it is, it shouldn’t be.
Cobra,
Sports teams do not make any money for the “instituion.” Most sports programs lose money and if any sports program makes any money they make it for the Athletic Foundation that is usually a separate, not-for-profit corporation from the university as a whole. It the long run most college end up subsidizing athletes through their student fees.
Ellen,
According to statistics reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Female athletes graduate at a higher rate than the student body as a whole at most universities. However, atheltes usually do not major is what are considered the “hard majors.” Male athletes do not do as well and it is only football and basketball athletes that graduate at rates well below the graduation rate of the university as a whole.