Create a free Diverse: Issues In Higher Education account to continue reading

The meaning of the numbers – rankings of colleges and universities with most minority students – Special Report: Top 100 Graduate & Professional Degree Producers

This is the second part of Black Issues In Higher Education’s annual
“Top 100” rankings of colleges and universities that graduate the most
minority, students. In part I, Black Issues ranked schools that grant
baccalaureate degrees. In this issue, Black Issues ranks graduate and
professional schools, beginning on page 22.

Objective

The analysis of advanced degrees conferred to students of color in
the United States continues this year with the simple objective of
bringing national attention to those institutions that contribute, in
raw numbers, to the educational attainment of members of ethnic and
racial minorities.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Black Issues In Higher
Education has published these lists, which follow the same basic format
as in prior years. The lists reflect the production of doctoral,
master’s and first profession degrees during the 1994-95 academic year
awarded by accredited colleges and universities in the nation’s fifty
states and the District of Columbia. (associate’s and baccalaureate
degree production was listed in the July 10, 1997 edition of Black
Issues). The institutions are ranked according to the total number of
degrees awarded to minority students across all disciplines and in
specific disciplines.

Excluded from this analysis are colleges and universities in Puerto
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and other commonwealths and protectorates,
as well as postsecondary institutions within the fifty states and
Washington, D.C. that are not accredited at the college level by an
agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education.

Data Source

The data for this study come from the United States Department of
Education. It is collected through the Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS) program completers survey conducted by
the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). The survey
requests data on the number of degrees and other formal awards
conferred in academic, vocational and continuing professional education
programs. Institutions report their data according to the
Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes developed by the
National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). CIP codes provide a
common set of categories allowing comparisons across all colleges and
universities.

The astute reader may note that we have skipped a year in this
series. Last year, we published the numbers that derived from the
1992-93 IPEDS completers survey. This year we have moved ahead to the
1994-95 dataset. In addition, we are able to provide preliminary
figures for institutions for which 1995-96 data are currently available.

At the time these lists were generated, the 1994-5 data were still
in a preliminary release. Our analysis showed however, that the vast
majority of the accredited institutions included in this analysis had
completed all required forms with one notable exception: Howard
University. Therefore, we decided to use the more up-to-date figures
for 1994-95 with the manual addition of Howard University derived from
the hard copy of their completed survey.

Analysis of the 1995-96 preliminary data showed far more missing
entries. We decided to include these figures where available as an
additional piece of information, but we used the 1994-95 figures as the
basis of selection and ranking.

A student’s minority status is typically determined by a
self-reported response from the student during his or her college
career. Students are offered a set of categories from which to choose.
The number and labels of these categories differ from one institution
to another. However, when reporting enrollment or degrees to the
federal government, institutions must map their categories to the
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. The minority
categories – Black, non-Hispanic; American Indian or Alaskan Native;
Asian or Pacific Islander; and Hispanic – include only U.S. citizens or
permanent residents.

There are 100 institutions on the list which combine all the
minority groups by degree level. The lists for specific minority groups
and for specific disciplines contain as many as fifty institutions
each. A given list may have slightly fewer or more institutions because
of ties in the rankings. For example, if there are four institutions
that fall into the ninety-eighth ranked slot, then the list includes
all of them, bringing the total number of institutions listed to 102.
If, however, ten institutions are tied for the ninety-eighth rank, all
are excluded and so the list falls short at ninety-seven.

A specific list may also be short because only a small number of
degrees are conferred to that minority group within that discipline
and/or degree level. For example, the list pertaining to doctoral
degrees awarded to Native American students includes only nine
institutions. We limited the lists to included institutions that
awarded at least three degrees in each category.

Within each listing category (combination of degree level, minority
group and discipline), the colleges and universities were ranked from
high to low according to the total number of degrees conferred during
the 1994-95 academic year. Each entry lists: the institution name;
state of location; number of degrees conferred to women, men and both
genders combined (the ranking criteria); a percentage column; and the
total number of degrees conferred in 1995-96, if available.

The percentage column indicates how the number of minority degree
recipients compares to all degree recipients at that institution within
that discipline. For example, in the listing of doctorates conferred to
African Americans in Business and Management, the percent indicates the
proportion of all Business and Management doctoral degree recipients at
that institution who were African American. If a particular college
awarded fifty doctor of business administration degrees and five
recipients were African American, then the percent column would
indicate 10.0. In other words, the percentage indicates the minority
group representation in that particular category.

Analysis performed by Victor M. H. Borden, Ph.D. Director,
Information Management and Institutional Research Assistant Professor
of Psychology Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

COPYRIGHT 1997 Cox, Matthews & Associates



© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com

The trusted source for all job seekers
We have an extensive variety of listings for both academic and non-academic positions at postsecondary institutions.
Read More
The trusted source for all job seekers