Dive Brief:
- Racial and ethnic disparities in college degree completion persist despite increasing student diversity in higher education, according to a new report from the American Council on Education.
- Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults ages 25 and older, 23.4%, had a bachelor’s degree as their highest level of educational attainment in 2022, according to the report. Yet that was true for only 12.8% American Indian or Alaskan Native adults, 14.5% of Hispanic or Latino adults, 17.3% of Black or African American adults, and 19.5% of Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander adults.
- Meanwhile, more than a quarter of White adults, 26.1%, and one third of Asian adults, 33.1%, had a bachelor’s degree as their highest level of attainment in 2022. These racial and ethnic disparities continued at the master’s, professional and doctoral levels, the report found.
Dive Insight:
Despite pervasive disparities, the college student population continues to become more diverse, with the proportions of Black or African American undergraduates and Latino or Hispanic undergraduates growing "dramatically over the past two decades,” according to the report.
The representation of Black or African American undergraduates increased from 12.1% in the 1999-2000 academic year to 15.9% in 2011-12. However, it recently declined again, falling to 12.8% in 2019-20. Meanwhile, enrollment of Hispanic or Latino students rose from 11.3% to 20.5% over that same period.
Educational attainment has ticked up across all racial and ethnic groups, according to the report.
It calls attention to the increases seen among Hispanic and Latino graduates over the past two decades. The share of Hispanic or Latino adults who had at least a bachelor’s degree nearly doubled during that time, growing from 11.1% in 2002 to 20.9% in 2022.
However, increases among White and Asian students outpaced these students, deepening existing disparities. The share of White adults who have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher rose from 29.4% in 2002 to 41.8% in 2022. Asian adults saw a similar increase, from 47.7% to 60.2% over the same timeframe.
“Despite progress in enrollment and attainment among all groups, unacceptable gaps persist,” ACE President Ted Mitchell wrote in a foreword for the report. “White and Asian students are more likely than others to enroll in college, attend four-year institutions, and graduate with degrees that open the doors to valuable labor market opportunities.”
The report also revealed disparities in how undergraduates finance their college education. In the 2019-20 academic year, 49.9% of Black or African American students took out loans to attend college — the highest of any racial or ethnic group studied. That includes students whose parents took out federal loans for their education.
That’s compared with 27% of American Indian or Alaska Native undergraduates, followed by 28.2% of Hispanic or Latino undergraduates.
When including Parent PLUS Loans, the average amount borrowed per student ranged from $7,840 for American Indian or Alaska Native undergraduates to $11,600 for Asian undergraduates.
