This Year’s Top 100 Offers Two for OneIt has been 11 years, but who’s counting! It is that time of year again — when we publish the rankings of the top 100 institutions that graduate the most students of color.
We did things a little differently this year. We combined both the undergraduate and graduate/professional degree rankings in the same edition. Traditionally, we have published two separate editions. We can’t remember what we were thinking last year when we decided to essentially produce a double issue, as it is quite an undertaking. Nevertheless, we believe you will find the data included in the next several pages to be valuable, useful information.
We also took advantage of our Web site <www.blackissues.com> where all of the data will be posted as well. In some instances, particular data will only be posted online. For example, all “Total Minority” data for bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and first professional, for all disciplines, will only be available online. Please see pg. 29 for a breakdown of which listings are available only online.
It’s always interesting to spot trends in the data by comparing the recent rankings with the previous year’s rankings. For example, Florida A&M, Southern and Howard universities continue to occupy the top three slots for conferring the most bachelor’s degrees to African American students. However, Tennessee State and North Carolina A&T universities moved into rankings 4 and 5 respectively in 2000-2001, which were previously occupied by A&T and Hampton University in 1999-2000. See Dr. Victor Borden’s analysis on page 40 for more interpretation of the data.
In addition to the numerous listings in this edition, we take a look at Morgan State University’s two unique doctoral programs in higher education. The university is looking to play a key role in preparing a diverse pool of higher education leaders. Writer Phaedra Brotherton speaks with Dr. Howard Simmons, who is heading the new Ph.D. in higher education program, and Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail, who is leading Morgan’s three-year-old Ed.D. program in community college leadership, about their goals and expectations for the programs (see story, pg. 30).
We also examine the big business of textbook publishing in Faculty Club. Assistant editor Kendra Hamilton and senior writer Ronald Roach discover how authoring textbooks is viewed in the academy and asks the question: Is the “master narrative” of the White-authored textbook keeping pace with the rapidly changing state of racial knowledge? (See story, pg. 124.)
It’s ironic that we’re running an article about Ward Connerly’s current initiative to ban the collection of racial data in California, because Black Issues would not be able to bring you Top 100 data if Connerly and his supporters had their way. Connerly, a member of the University of California system’s Board of Regents and chief proponent of California’s Proposition 209, is currently pushing an initiative that would essentially ban the state from requiring people to check off their race when they apply for a job, register for school, etc. This initiative is proving to be quite controversial and divisive even among former Connerly supporters (see story, pg. 18).
If this becomes a national movement, it would be almost impossible to gauge whether people of color were making progress since public institutions would be banned from asking students about their racial and ethnic background. We would not have discovered last year, for example that in 1999-2000 the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred upon African American students topped 100,000 for the first time. Such an initiative would give educators, policy-makers, researchers, communities and others no reason to celebrate, and at the same time, provide no cause for concern.
Hilary Hurd
Editor
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
