first-time students

Incredible: Grad rates at minority-serving institutions have skyrocketed


A new report reveals MSI completion rates are much higher than federal data indicate.

Minority serving institutions’ (MSIs) completion rates are substantially higher than federal data indicate, according to a new paper from the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Center for Policy Research and Strategy (CPRS).

The report, Pulling Back the Curtain: Enrollment and Outcomes at Minority Serving Institutions, uses data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to examine how students who started college at an MSI in 2007 moved through higher education.

NSC data capture student enrollment profiles and outcomes beyond what is available through U.S. Department of Education data, such as federal graduation rates.

The report’s authors determined that MSIs have higher completion rates than suggested by federal graduation rates based on the way the NSC data follow students through their educational journeys, including when they change institutions. At times, those completion rates are substantially higher than previously believed.

(Next page: Which group of students has the highest graduation rates?)

NSC data reveal a 43 percent total completion rate for public four-year Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which increased to nearly 62 percent for students who enrolled exclusively full time, compared to a federal graduation rate of 34.1 percent.

NSC data show a completion rate of 66.7 percent, compared to a federal graduation rate of 43.9 percent, for exclusively full-time students at private four-year HBCUs.

The NSC completion rate for exclusively full-time students at public four-year Predominantly Black Institutions was nearly 52 percent, compared to a federal graduation rate of 16.6 percent.

The completion rate for exclusively full-time students at public two-year Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) was 40.3 percent using NSC data, compared to the federal graduation rate of 25.5 percent. The NSC total completion rate for public four-year HSIs was approximately 50 percent and 74.1 percent for exclusively full-time students, compared to a federal graduation rate of 42.7 percent.

The completion rate for exclusively full-time students at public four-year Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions was nearly 88 percent according to NSC data, compared to a federal graduation rate of 66.2 percent.

“As our nation strives to provide equitable access to higher education, and as the American workforce increasingly requires a postsecondary credential, MSIs will continue to play an important role in ensuring the United States’ economic competitiveness,” said Lorelle Espinosa, assistant vice president, CPRS. “We hope that this paper will help education leaders, policymakers and policy influencers to understand the critical importance of MSIs.”

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Laura Ascione

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