A new study challenges the notion that minority students are less likely to complete their undergraduate degree if they attend minority-serving colleges and universities.
Looking strictly at graduation statistics, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) lag about 7 percent below traditional institutions, and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) trail by about 11 percent.
But graduation figures don’t tell the whole story, says Stella Flores, associate professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt University.
For a new study published online in Research in Higher Education, researchers culled data from the state of Texas, where there is a large concentration of minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and found that HBCUs and HSIs often have a student body that is less academically prepared than traditional schools—and tend to receive less financial aid.
UNFAIR CRITICISM
These and other differences in student population skew the statistics and unfairly put MSIs in a bad light, Flores says. At the same time, MSIs often function with limited institutional resources.
“Minority-serving institutions are doing more with less,” says coauthor Toby J. Park, assistant professor and senior research associate in the Center for Postsecondary Success at Florida State University. “And that needed to be factored into the analysis.”
To determine a true apples-to-apples comparison on the likelihood of degree completion for black and Hispanic students, the researchers compared students who were similar in preparation and background at MSIs and traditional schools.
“When all the variables were factored in, we found there was no difference in a student’s likelihood of graduating based on if they were enrolled in a minority-serving institution or a traditional school,” Flores says.
Many MSIs have unfairly been on the receiving end of criticism, she says.
“MSIs are viable and crucial contenders for increasing the rate of degree completion in America. Given the growing demographic student diversity in Texas and the nation, attention should be given to how well these schools are performing in the face of significant challenges.
“Not doing so may lead to enormous consequences to the health of the state and national workforce.”
Source: Vanderbilt University
