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.