COLLEGE PARK, MD (May, 2016) A policy brief released by the Maryland Equity Project (MEP) in late April examines the path to college degree attainment in Maryland by race and ethnicity. The brief is the third in a series on college access authored by MEP fellow Dr. Joseph Popovich.
Maryland, like many other states, has set ambitious goals for increasing the number of college graduates. With increasing diversity of students at all levels of Maryland’s educational system, reaching this goal requires understanding how well students of each racial/ethnic group are progressing along the path to college graduation. Dr. Popovich’s brief examines percentages of each major racial/ethnic group at three different points on this path: the estimated college-age population of recent high school graduates, the current full-time undergraduate population at Maryland campuses, and current bachelor’s degree recipients statewide.
The group that exhibits by far the largest differences in their representation between each of the three points along the path to a degree is the African-American population. According to 2015 data from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, African Americans make up about 35% of recent high school graduates but only 27% of full-time undergraduates and 20% of bachelor’s degree recipients. In order to be represented at the same rate as they are in the college-age population, African Americans would have had to receive 6,200 additional degrees, a more than doubling of the number they currently receive. To obtain degrees at the same rate as their representation in the full-time undergraduate population (27%) would require an increase of 2,600 degrees – 47% more than are now awarded to this racial group.
By contrast, Asians and Whites make up higher percentages of college graduates than their representation in the college-age population. For example, Whites comprise 48% of the college-age population but receive 59% of bachelor’s degrees.
Maryland’s public campuses are frequently cited for the high percentages of African Americans among their degree recipients. However, such recognition is usually based on comparisons to the U.S. population, which is 13% Black. Instead, the figures should be compared to Maryland’s population, which overall is 30% Black with a college-age population that is 35% Black. By this measure, a very large degree attainment gap exists in Maryland – a gap that has not narrowed in twenty years.
Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Black college freshmen has declined by 22% while the number of Black high school graduates in the state has changed very little. This downturn suggests that, for African Americans, the gap between share of the college-age population and degree representation will not narrow for the next several years.
The challenge for the state, Dr. Popovich explains, is to determine how its public institutions can increase the number of degrees awarded to African Americans. In the policy brief, he outlines three general aspects of this challenge.
First, the transition from high school to college needs to be improved for African Americans. Secondly, for students of traditional college age, success is likely to depend on expanding the role of community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which have a tradition of successfully dealing with the underprepared and a culture that makes remedial education and strong academic support programs integral parts of their institutional missions.
A third approach is to provide degree opportunities for those who already have bypassed college or who have dropped out as well as for those who will do so in the future. This will require programs for adult learners who typically are employed and who cannot afford the time required to complete a traditional degree program. Dr. Popovich notes that the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has a long-term record of successfully educating such students.
Click here to learn more about this and other MEP data and policy briefs.
Dr. Joseph Popovich is a fellow with the Maryland Equity Project (MEP). He was formerly Vice President for Planning and Information Technology at Morgan State University, where his research focused on the status of underserved populations and the role of HBCUs in educating these populations. Prior to his time at Morgan State, Dr. Popovich was Director of Policy Research for the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Planning and Policy from the University of Maryland.
-end-
For more information on the College of Education, visit: www.education.umd.edu
or contact
Audrey Hill, Associate Director of Communications, at: audreyh@umd.edu
