Higher Learning

By 2020, President Barack Obama envisions America leading the world in producing college graduates; however, achieving such a goal may be easier said than done as the achievement gap continues to widen between blacks and whites. Though enrollment rates for African American students in degree-granting institutions has increased from 11.3% in 2000 to 13.1% in 2007, black men are trailing black women, white men, and white women in attaining their bachelor’s degrees. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the academic year 2006—2007 only 33.9% of black males earned degrees, while 66.1% of black females, 56.3% of white females, and 43.7% of white males earned degrees.

The challenges that exist for black men in higher education led Charlita Shelton, Ph.D., president of the University of the Rockies in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to conduct a qualitative study on the persistence and graduation rates of black men in undergraduate degree programs. Shelton focused on 15 nontraditional black male students, average age of 35,

after realizing there was a lack of data on adult learners. Typically, the prerequisite for a qualitative methodology sample is 10 to 12 interviewees. Currently, the number of traditional students, ages 18—22, outpaces the number of nontraditional students, 25 and older; however, NCES has predicted that between 2006 and 2017, there will be a rise of 19% in enrollment of older students, and only 10% for people under 25.

The results of Shelton’s study outlined several factors that need to be in place for black men to complete their undergraduate degrees: self-determination, family support, positive instructor influence, and financial or positive academic counselor influence. “The self-determination factor was the No.1 key point from the study,” says Shelton. “The first time these men entered school at the traditional age, they weren’t really focused or were more interested in starting a career. I would say that upward career mobility and family support drove them to completing their degree the second or even third time.” Higher education institutions also play an important role in the matriculation of black males, notes the study. Extensive orientation for new students, counseling services, tutoring centers, and mentoring programs are all essential for retention, Shelton’s research found.

Discussing the factors that lead to higher graduation rates and exposing black students to those factors as early as their freshmen year in high school can help increase matriculation, Shelton suggests. Furthermore, the attitude needs to change among

institutions and the general community that once students get to college, all work is complete, says Hal Smith Ed.D., vice president of education and youth development for the National Urban League. “You have an obligation to these students to graduate them.”

The profile of today’s college student also needs to be updated,

says Smith. “An increasing number of students attend part time, do online learning, and take courses when they have money rather than attending eight consecutive semesters. Yet many financial aid models and degree programs are still based on the four-year model.”  Bryant T. Marks, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and director of the Morehouse Male Initiative at Morehouse College in Atlanta, says he agrees with Shelton’s concluding factors for adult learners, but emphasizes that the experience and motivation for attending school differs for a traditional college student versus a nontraditional college student. “[Nontraditional students] see directly how getting a degree will improve their quality of life professionally and personally, whereas traditional college students don’t see it that way in an immediate sense,” he says.

Marks is researching the development of the traditional college-aged black male over the course of their matriculation at four-year institutions. He and his team plan to provide

online surveys to 30 colleges and universities nationwide–15 HBCUs and 15 predominantly white institutions. In the fall of 2009, the team collected data from 343 incoming freshmen nationwide and intend to collect from 500 graduating seniors during spring semester this year.

The limited number of black males with undergraduate degrees is likely to shrink the pool of those qualified to eventually lead corporations. “Almost all senior leaders in my organization have their undergraduate or graduate degrees, and that’s a trend I don’t see reversing itself,” comments Ancella B. Livers, Ph.D., executive director of the Executive Leadership Council’s Institute for Leadership Development & Research in Alexandria, Virginia. Discussing the factors that lead to higher graduation rates and exposing black students to those factors as early as their freshmen year in high school can help increase matriculation, Shelton suggests.

This article originally appeared in the April 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.