College Comparison VI: Minority Graduation Rates

College Search & Selection
1

<p>In order to assist some in their college search process, I have prepared a series of threads that will compare colleges on a variety of measurements. In making these comparisons, I have created three broad groups (private national universities, public national universities and liberal arts colleges) and provide comparisons involving 117 colleges (national universities ranked in the USNWR Top 75 and LACs ranked in the USNWR Top 40). </p>

<p>Following is a comparison on MINORITY GRADUATION RATES. The results, using the 2008 NCAA Federal Graduation Rate data, are for the entering classes of 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 and their average six-year graduation rates. </p>

<p>I have provided all of the raw 6-year Graduation data and sorted by the sum of the relative performance of Asian, Black, and Hispanic students vs the performance of white students. This analysis does NOT take into account the relative size of each population on each campus. This is admittedly only one way to consider these statistics and perhaps others will have insightful ways to compare the minority graduation performance at these colleges. </p>

<p>I hope that you enjoy the thread and find some helpful information. Good luck to all in your college search process!</p>

<p>All Minorities vs Whites , Private National University , Asian , Black , Hispanic , White , , Overall 6-Year Grad Rate</p>

<p>11% , U Miami , 80% , 70% , 77% , 72% , , 73%
3% , Wake Forest , 91% , 89% , 87% , 88% , , 88%
0% , Harvard , 99% , 96% , 96% , 97% , , 98%
-2% , Emory , 88% , 81% , 87% , 86% , , 86%
-2% , Vanderbilt , 91% , 88% , 86% , 89% , , 89%
-2% , Columbia-Barnard , 94% , 86% , 91% , 91% , , 92%
-3% , Stanford , 97% , 92% , 93% , 95% , , 95%
-3% , SMU , 76% , 68% , 72% , 73% , , 72%
-3% , Caltech , 91% , 100% , 76% , 90% , , 90%
-3% , Pepperdine , 83% , 72% , 82% , 80% , , 79%
-4% , Johns Hopkins , 93% , 86% , 87% , 90% , , 90%
-5% , Northwestern , 94% , 87% , 93% , 93% , , 93%
-5% , Cornell , 94% , 87% , 93% , 93% , , 92%
-6% , U Chicago , 93% , 80% , 88% , 89% , , 89%
-6% , Duke , 94% , 88% , 94% , 94% , , 93%
-6% , USC , 87% , 77% , 82% , 84% , , 83%
-7% , Yale , 97% , 94% , 93% , 97% , , 96%
-7% , Wash U , 93% , 87% , 89% , 92% , , 92%
-7% , Boston University , 81% , 74% , 75% , 79% , , 79%
-7% , Rice , 95% , 87% , 87% , 92% , , 91%
-8% , Georgetown , 96% , 87% , 91% , 94% , , 94%
-8% , Princeton , 97% , 92% , 94% , 97% , , 96%
-8% , NYU , 89% , 72% , 74% , 81% , , 83%
-9% , U Penn , 95% , 90% , 91% , 95% , , 94%
-9% , Dartmouth , 94% , 89% , 93% , 95% , , 94%
-9% , Brown , 97% , 90% , 92% , 96% , , 95%
-12% , Notre Dame , 94% , 88% , 94% , 96% , , 95%
-13% , U Rochester , 82% , 73% , 75% , 81% , , 81%
-14% , Brandeis , 89% , 81% , 83% , 89% , , 89%
-17% , MIT , 96% , 84% , 88% , 95% , , 93%
-18% , Tulane , 77% , 64% , 66% , 75% , , 73%
-18% , George Washington , 79% , 69% , 74% , 80% , , 78%
-18% , Syracuse , 79% , 75% , 74% , 82% , , 80%
-19% , Rensselaer , 84% , 70% , 76% , 83% , , 82%
-21% , Tufts , 92% , 82% , 84% , 93% , , 91%
-22% , Worcester , 75% , 65% , 69% , 77% , , 76%
-23% , Carnegie Mellon , 87% , 76% , 78% , 88% , , 86%
-23% , Boston College , 88% , 80% , 85% , 92% , , 91%
-23% , Fordham , 75% , 74% , 71% , 81% , , 78%
-24% , Case Western , 84% , 69% , 63% , 80% , , 79%
-36% , BYU , 66% , 56% , 64% , 74% , , 74%
-38% , Lehigh , 89% , 59% , 75% , 87% , , 85%</p>

<p>na , Yeshiva , na , na , na , 80% , , 80%</p>

<p>All Minorities vs Whites , State University , Asian , Black , Hispanic , White , , Overall 6-Year Grad Rate</p>

<p>-3% , UC IRVINE , 82% , 72% , 77% , 78% , , 80%
-9% , UC S CRUZ , 70% , 66% , 65% , 70% , , 69%
-10% , U VIRGINIA , 94% , 88% , 90% , 94% , , 93%
-10% , WILLIAM & MARY , 90% , 85% , 88% , 91% , , 91%
-11% , UC SAN DIEGO , 86% , 76% , 79% , 84% , , 84%
-12% , U TEXAS , 80% , 71% , 68% , 77% , , 76%
-15% , GEORGIA TECH , 77% , 62% , 74% , 76% , , 76%
-15% , U GEORGIA , 71% , 69% , 70% , 75% , , 74%
-16% , U N CAROLINA , 82% , 74% , 83% , 85% , , 83%
-16% , U FLORIDA , 81% , 69% , 77% , 81% , , 80%
-16% , VIRGINIA TECH , 76% , 68% , 74% , 78% , , 77%
-17% , RUTGERS , 77% , 65% , 63% , 74% , , 72%
-19% , U WASHINGTON , 76% , 62% , 65% , 74% , , 75%
-20% , UC BERKELEY , 91% , 71% , 79% , 87% , , 88%
-20% , UC DAVIS , 81% , 72% , 73% , 82% , , 80%
-20% , UC S BARBARA , 76% , 69% , 75% , 80% , , 78%
-20% , U CONNECTICUT , 76% , 62% , 64% , 74% , , 73%
-22% , UCLA , 92% , 74% , 82% , 90% , , 88%
-22% , CLEMSON , 75% , 68% , 63% , 76% , , 75%
-24% , U MARYLAND , 79% , 66% , 71% , 80% , , 77%
-25% , OHIO STATE , 75% , 52% , 58% , 70% , , 68%
-25% , U DELAWARE , 75% , 63% , 71% , 78% , , 76%
-26% , U PITTSBURGH , 74% , 60% , 59% , 73% , , 71%
-26% , TEXAS A&M , 75% , 65% , 68% , 78% , , 77%
-29% , U MICHIGAN , 90% , 71% , 80% , 90% , , 87%
-29% , INDIANA U , 73% , 51% , 66% , 73% , , 72%
-31% , PURDUE , 66% , 54% , 53% , 68% , , 67%
-35% , U IOWA , 62% , 46% , 58% , 67% , , 66%
-39% , U ILLINOIS , 84% , 64% , 68% , 85% , , 82%
-39% , PENN STATE , 80% , 68% , 71% , 86% , , 84%
-50% , U MINNESOTA , 49% , 41% , 49% , 63% , , 60%
-50% , MICHIGAN ST , 71% , 56% , 54% , 77% , , 73%
-54% , U WISCONSIN , 70% , 56% , 60% , 80% , , 77%</p>

<p>All Minorities vs Whites , LAC , Asian , Black , Hispanic , White , , Overall 6-Year Grad Rate</p>

<p>22% , Bard , 86% , 71% , 81% , 72% , , 73%
13% , Grinnell , 97% , 84% , 81% , 83% , , 88%
7% , Smith , 84% , 89% , 89% , 85% , , 85%
2% , Mt. Holyoke , 88% , 75% , 76% , 79% , , 81%
0% , Wellesley , 94% , 92% , 90% , 92% , , 92%
0% , Davidson , 95% , 90% , 88% , 91% , , 91%
-2% , Barnard-Columbia , 94% , 86% , 91% , 91% , , 92%
-3% , Bryn Mawr , 85% , 81% , 83% , 84% , , 84%
-4% , Pomona-Pitzer , 89% , 82% , 83% , 86% , , 85%
-4% , Cl Mck-Mudd-Scripps , 85% , 84% , 82% , 85% , , 84%
-5% , Trinity , 87% , 85% , 81% , 86% , , 86%
-5% , Occidental , 87% , 77% , 74% , 81% , , 81%
-8% , Williams , 95% , 93% , 92% , 96% , , 96%
-8% , Amherst , 97% , 93% , 93% , 97% , , 96%
-9% , Swarthmore , 95% , 90% , 85% , 93% , , 92%
-11% , Wesleyan , 90% , 87% , 88% , 92% , , 91%
-12% , U Richmond , 89% , 81% , 73% , 85% , , 84%
-13% , Whitman , 87% , 80% , 78% , 86% , , 86%
-15% , Vassar , 92% , 84% , 82% , 91% , , 90%
-15% , Hamilton , 89% , 77% , 83% , 88% , , 87%
-15% , Holy Cross , 90% , 86% , 85% , 92% , , 91%
-16% , Oberlin , 80% , 78% , 75% , 83% , , 82%
-18% , Haverford , 91% , 81% , 86% , 92% , , 91%
-19% , US Military Acad , 86% , 72% , 75% , 84% , , 82%
-19% , Kenyon , 77% , 71% , 85% , 84% , , 83%
-21% , Colorado College , 80% , 69% , 82% , 84% , , 83%
-21% , Bates , 81% , 78% , 87% , 89% , , 88%
-22% , Furman , 82% , 82% , 69% , 85% , , 84%
-23% , Colgate , 90% , 81% , 79% , 91% , , 90%
-23% , Lafayette , 84% , 86% , 77% , 90% , , 89%
-24% , US Naval Acad , 83% , 72% , 82% , 87% , , 86%
-27% , Bucknell , 85% , 79% , 79% , 90% , , 89%
-30% , Middlebury , 88% , 73% , 88% , 93% , , 92%
-30% , Macalester , 79% , 82% , 64% , 85% , , 84%
-30% , Sewanee , 69% , 66% , 75% , 80% , , 79%
-31% , Carleton , 87% , 72% , 86% , 92% , , 90%
-31% , W&L , 87% , 69% , 80% , 89% , , 88%
-34% , Colby , 82% , 76% , 75% , 89% , , 88%
-38% , Bowdoin , 89% , 73% , 76% , 92% , , 91%</p>

2

<p>I don’t really understand how you get some of the numbers. Let’s take Dartmouth as an example so I don’t appear biased.</p>

<p>-9% , Dartmouth , 94% , 89% , 93% , 95% , , 94%</p>

<p>Dartmouth has a 95% graduation rate for white students, 94% for Asian students, 89% for African American students, and 93% for Hispanic students.</p>

<p>Even if you just took Whites - lowest minority, you’d still end up with -6% not -9%. This kind of “error” is made throughout the data so I’m guessing there’s something I don’t understand here…</p>

<p>Also, you’ll notice that the way you organized the numbers favored schools with middling graduation rate performance across the board. Some of the top listed schools have far lower graduation rates for minority students than lower listed schools. I wonder if it’s fair to assess a school “poorly” for minority “performance” when 90+% of its minority students are graduating versus a school where only 70% are.</p>

3

<p>I’m comparing to white students. I think you are comparing to the overall numbers. Here is how I did it for Dartmouth:</p>

<p>All Minorities vs Whites , Private National University , Asian , Black , Hispanic , White , , Overall 6-Year Grad Rate</p>

<p>-9% , Dartmouth , 94% , 89% , 93% , 95% , , 94%</p>

<p>-1% Asian population (94%-95%)
-6% Black population (89%-95%)
-2% Hispanic population (93%-95%)</p>

<p>-9% = Total</p>

4

<p>Oh, no, I was comparing to white students, but I didn’t add the differences (that doesn’t make any sense at all).</p>

<p>You should, if anything, average the differences. Your way of measuring is sort of the equivalent to variance (in that its a manipulation that emphasizes differences), but it paints an inaccurate picture. The gap at DMouth isn’t 9%, it’s about 2%. You’re only about 2% less likely to graduate as a minority student there, not 9% less likely.</p>

5

<p>I see what you are saying and agree that the summed result is sub-optimal. However, I don’t think that the average works either as it paints too rosy a picture for some groups (Blacks) and too bleak for others (Asians). The best answer is probably a individualized presentation by ethnic group, but this would mean a TON of data being presented and a lot might get lost. That is a major reason why I presented as I did and also why I provided the raw data so that one could make these single-ethnicity comparisons if they so choose.</p>

6

<p>I, too, understand what you’re saying…</p>

<p>I think it’d be better to rank them based on the largest gap between whites and any single ethnicity (in the negative), and then present all of the break out data.</p>

7

<p>The rankings are confusing. Maybe just list each race is better.</p>