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Educational Attainment
Educational attainment has long been an integral part of the African American struggle for social and political equality in the United States. While black Americans have made great strides toward attaining equal access to education, the number of African Americans earning college degrees still lags behind that of the general population, making educational attainment a continuing issue of concern. In the year 2000, for example, only 16.6 percent of African Americans twenty-five years and older had college degrees, compared to 28.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites.
Educational Attainment before 1954
Prior to the Civil War, African Americans had few opportunities to obtain higher educational degrees. In the South, illiteracy was enforced by slavery. In the North, few white colleges welcomed African Americans students, with the notable exceptions of Oberlin College and Antioch College, both in Ohio. Only a few colleges designed specifically to serve blacks existed during this period—namely, the industrial college at Wilberforce in Ohio, founded in 1857, and Lincoln University, a liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, founded in 1854.
Following the Civil War, black colleges and universities began opening in large numbers throughout the nation. White and black religious organizations and missionary groups helped establish a number of private schools, while the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890—which provided land and money to create public educational institutions—led to the establishment of a number of black public colleges.
During this time, an increasing number of black primary and public schools helped increase black literacy and prepare students for college. In 1880, for example, 70 percent of African Americans were illiterate; by 1900, that number had been reduced to about 44 percent, and approximately 2,240 African Americans had received college degrees.
African Americans continued to make significant strides in education in the early to mid-1900s. By 1946, approximately 10,000 African Americans had received college degrees—about 870 of them from predominantly white colleges—and 43,878 African American students were enrolled in historically black colleges and universities.
Educational Attainment since 1954
Despite such advances, segregation at all educational levels, along with inadequate funding, continued to limit black access to higher education. In 1954, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education led to the desegregation of colleges and public schools throughout the United States. However, it was not until the advent of civil rights legislation and affirmative action programs in the mid-to late 1960s, that white colleges began addressing in earnest the racial disparities in their enrollments.
Since that time, college enrollment of African Americans has become much more equitable. In 1967, only 13 percent of African Americans ages eighteen to twenty-four were enrolled in college compared to 26.9 percent of whites. By the year 2000, black enrollment stood at 30.5 percent compared to 38.7 percent for whites and 21.7 percent for Hispanics. Proportionally, African Americans represented 12.2 percent of college students, a figure roughly equivalent to their numbers in the general population.
Unfortunately, African Americans make up only 8.4 percent of the students in the nation who graduate college and receive bachelor's degrees. Educators have cited a number of reasons for the African American dropout rate at colleges and universities. For one thing, African Americans in college may still face both overt and covert racism. Black students attending predominantly white campuses may experience feelings of isolation. Another possible factor is that blacks often suffer from inadequate secondary school preparation, often caused by an inequitably funded and increasingly segregated public school system.
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