style="width:522px;">
In the 1999-2000 academic year, the number of African Americans earning bachelor's degrees topped the 100,000 mark -- coming in at 103,874, an increase of 8,350 degrees, or 8.74 percent, over 1997-1998 figures. After promising gains in 1997-1998 in producing degree holders, historically Black colleges and universities witnessed a slight decline in the number of African American bachelor's degree holders -- total of 50 fewer degrees overall, a drop from 25,386 to 25,336. Of the top 10 HBCUs in 1997-1998, five experienced a decrease in the number of degree holders produced. North Carolina Central experienced the largest decline -- producing 85 fewer degrees, for a 13 percent decrease.
In 1965, "you still had 60 percent of Blacks going to HBCUs," says Dr. Reginald Wilson, senior scholar emeritus for the American Council on Education. In the past 40 years that number has steadily decreased, he says. More financial aid available at non-HBCUs and the breaking of family traditions to attend a certain HBCU has cut into AfriCan American enrollment at HBCUs. It used to be that d a grandfather went to Fisk, the father would go and then the son," explains Wilson. "That's not happening anymore. More Black students are going to (traditionally White institutions) because the opportunity to go is them."
Total Minority -- BACHELOR'S DEGREES
1993-94 1994-95 1995-96
GRAND TOTAL 191970 215768 215929
CONTROL
PUBLIC 130914 144817 146831
PRIVATE, NON PROFIT 58629 67964 65863
PROPRIETARY 2427 2987 3235
CARNEGIE CLASSIFICATION
RESEARCH I 51974 53244 57417
RESEARCH II 10750 11000 11788
DOCTORAL I 11825 11910 12494
DOCTORAL II 12867 16447 15232
MASTER'S I 68710 77942 76857
MASTER'S II 3672 5641 4633
BACHELOR'S I 6126 6712 6718
BACHELOR'S II 17586 21786 20576
ASSOCIATE'S 194 374 294
SPECIALIZED 6771 8293 7578
TRIBAL 55 43 57
UNCLASSIFIED 1440 2376 2285
Preliminary
1996-97 1997-98 1999-00
GRAND TOTAL 224340 227331 259182
CONTROL
PUBLIC 154992 157389 176795
PRIVATE, NON PROFIT 66041 66527 75686
PROPRIETARY 3307 3435 6701
CARNEGIE CLASSIFICATION
RESEARCH I 57965 61884 68010
RESEARCH II 12766 12365 14406
DOCTORAL I 13169 13325 15006
DOCTORAL II 16235 16448 18844
MASTER'S I 80691 80514 90665
MASTER'S II 4819 4584 5725
BACHELOR'S I 6799 6293 6991
BACHELOR'S II 20997 21150 23899
ASSOCIATE'S 439 484 1200
SPECIALIZED 7955 7662 9430
TRIBAL 67 67 98
UNCLASSIFIED 2438 2555 55
Note: These tables include degrees conferred at accredited
postsecondary institutions within the 50 states and the
District of Columbia.
Top Bachelor's Degree Disciplines by Race/Ethnicity
African American American Indian
99-00 97-98 99-00 97-98
BUSINESS MGMT & ADMIN SVCS 1 1 1 1
SOCIAL SCIENCES & HISTORY 2 2 2 3
HEALTH PROFESSIONS & REL SCI 3 4 4 4
EDUCATION 4 3 3 2
PSYCHOLOGY 5 5 5 5
COMMUNICATIONS 6 7 11 10
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES/LIFE SCI 7 6 8 6
LIB ARTS, SCI/GEN STUDS, HUM 8 8 7 7
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SVCS 9 10 14 12
PROTECTIVE SERVICES 10 9 12 13
ENGLISH LANGUAGE/LIT/LETTERS 11 11 10 9
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCI 12 13 15 16
ENGINEERING 13 12 9 11
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS 14 14 6 8
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLIN STUDIES 15 15 13 14
Asian American Hispanic
99-00 97-98 99-00 97-98
BUSINESS MGMT & ADMIN SVCS 1 1 1 1
SOCIAL SCIENCES & HISTORY 3 3 2 2
HEALTH PROFESSIONS & REL SCI 6 5 5 5
EDUCATION 10 10 3 3
PSYCHOLOGY 7 6 4 4
COMMUNICATIONS 12 13 9 9
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES/LIFE SCI 2 2 6 6
LIB ARTS, SCI/GEN STUDS, HUM 14 14 8 7
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SVCS 22 20 15 15
PROTECTIVE SERVICES 21 21 11 11
ENGLISH LANGUAGE/LIT/LETTERS 11 9 13 12
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCI 5 7 16 16
ENGINEERING 4 4 7 8
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS 8 8 10 13
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLIN STUDIES 9 11 12 10
Non-Minority
99-00 97-98
BUSINESS MGMT & ADMIN SVCS 1 1
SOCIAL SCIENCES & HISTORY 2 2
HEALTH PROFESSIONS & REL SCI 4 4
EDUCATION 3 3
PSYCHOLOGY 5 5
COMMUNICATIONS 8 10
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES/LIFE SCI 7 6
LIB ARTS, SCI/GEN STUDS, HUM 11 11
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SVCS 18 17
PROTECTIVE SERVICES 14 14
ENGLISH LANGUAGE/LIT/LETTERS 10 9
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCI 12 12
ENGINEERING 9 7
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS 6 8
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLIN STUDIES 13 13
This list includes each ethnic group's Top 10 disciplines in number of
bachelor's degrees conferred in 1999-00. In other words, to be
included in this list, the discipline had to rank in the Top 10 for at
least one ethnic group. Once it appears in the list, the discipline is
ranked in popularity within each group, even if it doesn't fall into
that group's Top 10.
In addition, many of the HBCUs find themselves in the ironic position of having more White students among their graduates.
"Affirmative action is happening in the Black institutions," says Wilson. Many thought that desegregation only applied to the predominantly White institutions. Not so, he says. "You are finding Whites getting scholarships and funding to go to historical Black institutions. In fact, some institutions that are historically Black have become predominately White institutions." He cites as an example West Virginia State, which he says now has an 80 percent White student population.
But HBCUs still produce, a large percentage of today's Black bachelor's degree recipients. Out of the top 10 producers of Black baccalaureate degrees, eight are HBCUs. In the top 20, 12 are HBCUs.
Florida A&M University remained the No. 1 producer of African American bachelor's degrees and experienced a 8.99 percent increase since 1997-1998. Other HBCUs from 1997-1998 posting gains were Southern, Hampton, Morgan State and Jackson State universities.
New entrants on the top 10 HBCU list were South Carolina State, which experienced a 21.6 percent increase since 1997-1998 and Tennessee State University, which experienced a 31.8 percent increase during the same time frame.
Traditionally White Institutions (TWIs) continue the trend of increasingly graduating more Black bachelor's degree recipients. This year's top 50 TWIs, produced 2,176 more Black bachelor's degree holders, for an 11.4 percent increase over 1997-1998.
1 -
