AFRICAN AMERICANS AND EDUCATION
The promise of a quality education is an important civil and human right that has yet to be fully realized in the American
public education system. African Americans are more likely to attend high-poverty schools—that is, public schools where
more than 75 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch1—and are less likely to graduate from high
school and subsequently attend college at rates lower than any other racial group.
High-Poverty Elementary and Secondary Schools


In 2006–07, approximately 16 percent of all elementary and secondary public school students (or 7.7 million students)
attended high-poverty schools.2
Greater percentages of African American (33 percent), Latino (35 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (25
percent) students attended high-poverty schools than did white (4 percent) or Asian/Pacific Islander students (13
percent).3
Percentage of Public Elementary and Secondary School Students in High-Poverty Schools,
by Race/Ethnicity and Locale: School Year 2006–07
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data,
Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey, 2006–07,
High School Graduation and Dropout Rates



Nationwide, 7,000 students drop out of school every day, and only about 70 percent of students graduate from high
school with a high school diploma.4
Two thousand high schools in the United States produce more than half of all dropouts, and a recent study suggests
that in the 50 largest cities, only 53 percent of students graduate on time. Research shows that children of color attend
such “dropout factories” at significantly higher rates.5
The dropout rates for whites, African Americans, and Latinos declined between 1980 and 2007. However, for each
year during that period, the dropout rate was lower for whites compared with African Americans and Latinos. The rate
for Asian/Pacific Islanders was also lower than rates for Latinos and African Americans between 1989 and 2007.6
Status Dropout Rates of 16–24-Year-Olds, by Race/Ethnicity: Selected Years,
1980–2007
Race/Ethnicity
Year
Totalb
White
1980
14.1
1985
Latino
11.4
African
American
19.1
12.6
10.4
15.2
27.6
1990
12.1
9.0
13.2
32.4
1995
12.0
8.6
12.1
30.0
2000
10.9
6.9
13.1
27.8
2001
10.7
7.3
10.9
27.0
2002
10.5
6.5
11.3
25.7
2003
9.9
6.3
10.9
23.5
2004
10.3
6.8
11.8
23.8
2005
9.4
6.0
10.4
22.4
2006
9.3
5.8
10.7
22.1
2007
8.7
5.3
8.4
21.4
35.2
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
“The Condition of Education 2009,” Indicator 20, NCES 2009-081
a
Race categories exclude persons of Latino ethnicity.
b
Total includes other race/ethnicity categories not separately shown.
African Americans and Advanced Placement Courses


Of all the racial groups, African American students are most likely to attend a school that does not offer advanced
placement (AP) courses. For example, 19 percent of African American students attend such schools, compared with
only 6 percent of Asian, 12 percent of Latino, and 15 percent of white students.7
A greater percentage of African American students attended schools classified as “low AP” relative to all other racial
groups.8
African American Males and High School Graduation Rates


In 2005–06, less than half of all African American male students received diplomas with their cohort.9 The rate at
which African American males are dropping out and being placed in special education far exceeds the rate at which
they are graduating and reaching high levels of academic achievement.10
The graduation rate for African American male students for the nation as a whole in 2005–06 was 47 percent. On the
other hand, New Jersey and Arizona had graduation rates for their male African American students close to, or higher
than, the national average graduation rate for white, Latino male students. Other highlights from the 2005–06 school
cohort include these:11
o The state of New York has three of the 10 districts with the lowest graduation rates for African American
males.
o The one million African male students enrolled in the New York, Florida, and Georgia public schools are
twice as likely not to graduate with their class as to do so.
o Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, and Wisconsin graduated fewer African
American males with their peer group than the national average.
o
Illinois and Wisconsin have nearly 40-point gaps between the rate at which they graduate African American
and white, non-Hispanic male students.
State-by-State Graduation Rates for African American Male Students
Source: Schott Foundation for Public Education 50 State Report male data portal.
Transition to College



Race and family income is highly correlated with whether a student immediately enrolls in college. The immediate
college enrollment rates of high school graduates from low- and middle-income families trailed those of their peers
from high-income families by more than 10 percentage points in each year between 1972 and 2007.12
In 2007, the enrollment rate gap between students from low- and high-income families was 23 percentage points and
the gap between students from middle- and high-income families was 15 percentage points.13
In 2007, the immediate college enrollment rate was 70 percent for white high school graduates and 61 percent for
Latino high school graduates, compared with 56 percent for African American high school graduates.14
College Graduation Rates

African Americans trail other ethnic groups in terms of college completion. Based on the most recent college
completion data, Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest six-year graduation rate (67 percent), followed by whites (60
percent), Latinos (49 percent), African Americans (42 percent), and American Indians/Alaska Natives (40 percent).
This pattern held at public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit institutions, with African Americans and
American Indians/Alaska Natives having the lowest graduation rates of the five racial/ethnic groups.15
2007 College Graduation Rates by Race/Ethnicity
African Americans
42%
Asian/Pacific Islander
67%
Latinos
American Indians/Alaska Natives
Whites
49%
40%
60%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education
Data System
1
The percentage of students eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program provides a proxy measure for the concentration of
low-income students within a school. In this indicator, high-poverty schools are defined as public schools where more than 75 percent
of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
2
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Public Elementary/Secondary
School Universe Survey, 2006–07, http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/pubschuniv.asp (accessed August 31, 2009).
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Committee on Education and Labor, “High School Dropout Crisis Threatens U.S. Economic Growth and Competitiveness,
Witnesses Tell House Panel,” May 12, 2009, Available at: http://www.edlabor.house.gov/.../05/high-school-dropout-crisis-thr.shtml
(accessed August 21, 2009).
6
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “The Condition of Education 2009,” Indicator 20, NCES
2009-081, http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/pdf/6_2009.pdf (accessed August 19, 2009).
7
Education Testing Services, “Access to Success: Patterns of Advanced Placement Participation in U.S. High Schools,”
http://www.etsliteracy.org/Media/Research/pdf/PIC-ACCESS.pdf (accessed August 31, 2009).
8
Ibid.
9
Graduation rates are calculated as the percentage of students enrolled in ninth grade receiving diplomas with their cohort at the end
of 12th grade.
10
Schott Foundation for Public Education, Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males,
2008, http://blackboysreport.org/node/13 (accessed August 31, 2009).
11
Ibid.
12
U.S. Department of Education, “The Condition of Education 2009.”
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, spring
2007, graduation rates component, https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ (accessed August 22, 2009).