White and Hispanic college students enrolled in the University System of Maryland are graduating at higher rates than Black students, according to recent data collected by the university system.
Only 40 percent of Black students earn a degree within six years of entering college, compared with 65 percent of all students and more than 70 percent of Hispanics. The disparity between Black and all college graduates in the university system has increased 10 percent over the last three years, growing from 15 percent to 25 percent.
University system Chancellor William E. Kirwan says Maryland’s challenge of graduating a larger percentage of Black students in six years is a small piece of a larger national problem.
“The issue has to be put into a national context,” says Kirwan. “I don’t think that there is anything at work in Maryland that we do not see across the country. Unfortunately, underrepresented minorities have a lower graduation rate than the general student population in most states, probably in all states.”
Last year, Kirwan and the Board of Regents launched an initiative to narrow the achievement gap between Black and all students. The goal is to slice the gap in half, reducing it 12 percent
“The data we have gives us benchmarks to measure our [future] performance,” says Kirwan. “Last year, each campus submitted a plan. Campuses and presidents will be held accountable for making progress towards [our] responsible and worthy goal.”
While the three historically Black universities enroll 57 percent of first-time, full-time Black freshmen in the seven-school system, they also have the lowest second-year retention rates for Black students in the system. With the exception of Salisbury University, the second-year retention rate for Black students at traditionally White institutions exceeds that of all students at traditionally White institutions in Maryland.
