The Top 100:Interpreting the Data
By Dr. Victor M. H. Borden and Pamela C. Brown

The current year, 2004, marks a monumental year in higher education for students of color. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which declared racial segregation in public education settings unconstitutional. Despite the gains that have been made in increasing access to higher education for African American, Hispanic, Asian American and American Indian students, there remain persistent gaps in minority-student attendance, and especially attainment. The large increases in minority-student college enrollment parallel the overall increases in the minority population. And, although college attendance rates have increased among most minority groups, there remain persistent gender gaps and significant gaps in degree attainment.  
Issues of enrollment, persistence and graduation will be at the forefront of legislative decisions as Congress works to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. It is also expected that Congress will approve increased financial support for historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions as they continue to play a pivotal role in conferring degrees to students of color.  For the 13th consecutive year, we present to you a listing of the most productive institutions in conferring baccalaureate degrees to students of color. We also include in this analysis a look at some of the trends related to minority-student degree attainment.  Before examining those trends, it is important to consider the source and limitations of the national data used to produce this analysis.
 This edition of the Top 100 analysis considers degrees awarded during the 2002-2003 academic year. The data come from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Set (IPEDS). In order to provide the most currently available data, we must rely on the "preliminary" files, which are complete and accurate for those institutions included in the analysis, but do not necessarily include every postsecondary institution in the "IPEDS Universe." Fortunately, there are only a few missing cases among the type of institutions included in this analysis — Title IV eligible colleges and universities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia that confer baccalaureate degrees.
The data for this study are collected by NCES through the IPEDS Program Completer's Survey. Specifically, this survey asks for the number of degrees and other formal awards conferred in academic, vocational and continuing professional education programs. NCES uses the Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes which provide a common set of categories from which institutions can report their data, allowing comparisons across all colleges and universities.
The lists included in this analysis are based on students' racial or ethnic status. Students self-report this information during their college career by choosing among a set of categories. While institutions may vary in the specific categories they offer, they must report their enrollments and degrees to NCES using standard federal categories: non-resident alien; Black, non-Hispanic; American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; Hispanic; White, non-Hispanic; and race/ethnicity unknown. Only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are included in the minority categories — Black, non-Hispanic; American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; and Hispanic.
The lists presented in this issue array the Top 100 degree-granting institutions for each minority group overall, and the Top 50 institutions that conferred degrees within specific disciplinary areas, such as business, health sciences, etc. The lists may include slightly more or less than 100 or 50 institutions due to ties in rank at the end of the list. That is, if a number of institutions are tied at one of the lower ranks, we will often stop the list just shy of the target count or go a little beyond the count to accommodate the last group.
Within each list, we present the total number of degrees conferred by the institution for the prior year (2001-02), followed by the count for the current year (2002-03) for men, women and then total. The counts are followed by two percentages. The first one shows how the number of degrees conferred to that particular racial/ethnic group stands in proportion to all degrees conferred at that institution (across all disciplines for the Top 100 lists and within each discipline for the Top 50 disciplinary lists). The second percentage column represents the percentage change in total degrees between the prior and current year.
Most U.S. higher education institutions report their numbers independently of other institutions with which they may share system ties.  However, some institutions pool their numbers as part of a larger reporting entity. The lists note those "multi-institutional" reporting entities with an asterisk by the state designation.