Colleges Seeking Racial Diversity Must Work Beyond Admissions to Ensure Student Success

May 28, 2003

IOWA CITY, Iowa—Colleges that seek racial diversity in their student population must take steps to help their African American and Hispanic students succeed, according to the results of a new study by ACT. The research suggests that these minority students are less likely to succeed in college than Caucasians who earned the same high school grade point average (GPA) and, to a lesser degree, the same ACT composite scores as they.

These findings are supported by statistics on college persistence, which indicate that African American and Hispanic college students are less likely to earn a degree than their Caucasian peers.

"Diversity in admissions is important, but colleges can't stop there," said Jon Erickson, ACT's vice president for educational services. "The ultimate goal of diversity should be to help all students succeed and graduate."

The fact that African American and Hispanic students are much less likely than Caucasian students who earned the same high school GPA to be successful (2.50 or higher first-year GPA) in college indicates that equal grades earned in high school do not necessarily reflect equal academic preparation when comparing these students.

"It may be that African American and Hispanic students, in general, are taking less rigorous high school coursework than their Caucasian counterparts," said Erickson. "It may also be that grade inflation is taking place to a greater degree for these minority students."

The fact, however, that minority students also have a somewhat lower probability of success in college than Caucasians who earn the same composite scores on the ACT Assessment—a standardized, curriculum-based achievement test—suggests that the problem goes beyond academic preparation, according to Julie Noble, ACT's principal research associate and the study's author.

"Something is going on that makes it more difficult for minority students to succeed in college," said Noble.

Noble points to several possible factors beyond academic preparation that may impact the lower graduation rate for African American and Hispanic students:

Statistics show that African American and Hispanic students are more likely than Caucasian students to be first-generation college-goers, who have been shown to be at a disadvantage in terms of staying in school and earning a degree.
Recent research by ACT has indicated that African American and Hispanic high school students may not be getting the information they need to adequately prepare for college, which can result in missed opportunities and unrealistic expectations.
Some researchers have claimed that U.S. colleges and universities tend to be geared primarily toward the Caucasian culture, making it more difficult for minority students to fit in and feel comfortable in their surroundings.

Colleges must make special efforts if they are to retain and graduate a greater percentage of incoming African American and Hispanic students, according to Erickson. These special efforts may include academic advising and mentoring programs, financial assistance programs, learning assistance programs, proper course placement, family support mechanisms, and remedial instruction. In addition, colleges should work to ensure that their faculty and staff are reflective of their student body in terms of race and ethnicity.

The ACT study looked at background characteristics, high school grades, ACT scores, and college grades for first-year students enrolled at U.S. colleges during the 1996-1997 school year, as well as students who took the ACT Assessment and requested that their scores be sent to participating colleges but chose not to enroll there. The final samples upon which all results were based comprise 262,553 students from 43 institutions for the African American/Caucasian American sample and 174,890 students from 25 institutions for the Hispanic/Caucasian American sample.