Interact with the author through EduStats - We value your input.
Related Articles:US College graduation Rate by Race by State - 2010 IPEDS
US College Graduation Rate by State for 2009-10 graduates
College Graduation Rates by State - 2009 Ranking
Data release: College Graduation Rates by State for 2008-09 graduates
Race in United States is a much debated topic. Tying race to discrimination is a sequel of historical events. The subsistence of the racism is continually disputed. The data revealed here is too limited to settle the disagreement. But we do hope the data can pointed to the weak spot in our education system and the solution with emphasis on personal obligation can be developed. In author's opinion, some of today's approach in improving minorities' education attainment is overreaching and is themselves racial biased and undermined the important principle of personal responsibility. Services should be made available to all regardless of race. It takes responsible person to seek helps. Which race group actually uses these services is not a racial issue.
Opinion aside, objective view of the data is definitely in order.
This analysis is based on the data released earlier by the CL Higher Education Center. The analysis dis-regard the non-residence alien. The US total also exclude US minor islands and territories.
The College Graduation Rates by Race for the US states are shown in table 1 while the table 2 shows the same data with the inclusion of US minor islands and territories with differences highlighted. The difference for Asian are mainly caused by the inclusion of the Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The changes for Hispanic are the effect of including the Puerto Rico. The rest of the analysis would focus on the US states and Washington DC.
Table 1 - US states - including DC
| Sector | Native | Asian | Black | Hispanic | White | Total |
| Public 4Yr | 35% | 65% | 36% | 43% | 57% | 53% |
| NProfit 4Yr | 46% | 75% | 44% | 57% | 67% | 64% |
| Profit 4Yr | 41% | 42% | 31% | 43% | 40% | 38% |
| Public 2Yr | 17% | 25% | 12% | 16% | 23% | 20% |
| NProfit 2Yr | 23% | 51% | 46% | 47% | 55% | 51% |
| Profit 2Yr | 58% | 72% | 47% | 63% | 63% | 59% |
Table 2 - With US minor islands and territories**
| Sector | Native | Asian | Black | Hispanic | White | Total |
| Public 4Yr | 35% | 64% | 36% | 43% | 57% | 53% |
| NProfit 4Yr | 46% | 75% | 44% | 43% | 67% | 63% |
| Profit 4Yr | 41% | 42% | 31% | 41% | 40% | 38% |
| Public 2Yr | 17% | 25% | 12% | 16% | 23% | 20% |
| NProfit 2Yr | 23% | 51% | 46% | 63% | 55% | 55% |
| Profit 2Yr | 58% | 72% | 47% | 61% | 63% | 59% |
Fig. 1 shows the US average graduation rates by race by sector. In general, White and Asian stand out in the traditional institutions (Public and Private not-for-profit institutions). In other sectors, White and Asian college graduation rates are comparable to other races. Overall, the public two year sector shows the lowest college graduation rates for all races. Within each sector, the Black usually exhibit the lowest rate except at the public four year sector, where the Native American show the lowest college graduation rate. It is also interest to see that the private not-for-profit sectors have higher college graduation rates than their public counter parts.
Fig. 1 - US average graduation rates for each sector by race
Figure 2. present the same information as in Figure 1 except grouped by each race. Within all races, the private for-profit two year sector demonstrates high rates, only within White and Asian it seconds to the private not-for-profit four year sector.
Fig. 2 - US average college graduation rates for each race by sector
Figure 3 is an un-traditional display of a set of histogram for Asian. Each histogram/curve show the number of states at each graduation rate for a given sector. For example, there are 12 states that have college graduation rates for Asian greater than 55% and less than 60% for the public four year sector/curve while there are 9 states have college graduation rates greater than 30% and less than 35% for the private for-profit four year sector/curve.
Figure 3 demonstrates clearly that, for Asian, the average college graduation rates for each sector are representative except for the not-for-profit two year sector, where most of the states have a rate of 0% and rates are spread out without some kind of concentration or locality.
Fig. 3 - College graduation rate for Asian by sector
Figure 4 displayed similar information as in Figure 3 except it is for the Black. Even though the US average college graduation rate for the private not-for-profit four year sector is comparable to other sectors for Black, figure 4 shows that the rate varies a lot in regard to different states.
Fig. 4 - College graduation rate for Black by sector
Figure 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the same kind of information for Hispanic, Native American and White.
Fig. 5 - College graduation rate for Hispanic by sector
Fig. 6 - College graduation rate for Native American by sector
Fig. 7 - College graduation rate for White by sector
Figure 8 modeled after previous figures to display the college graduations rates for each race in the public four your sector. This chart clearly shows that the White and Asian are comparable except that there are some states where Asian exhibits higher rates.
Fig. 8 - College graduation rates for public four year sector by race
Figure 9 to 13 show the similar information as in Figure 8 for each sector.
Fig. 9 - College graduation rates for private not-for-profit four year sector by race
Fig. 10 - College graduation rates for private for-profit four year sector by race
Figure 11 is an very interested one. For one, this is the only one that all races are having good localities. Second of all, the White seems to be the one that is doing better even though the US average college going rates for public two year sector clearly show that the Asian is doing better than the White. The mystery is solved when dig deeper into the data. The data show that the high average college graduation rate for Asian in the public two year sector is caused by a single state with high Asian public two year sector enrollment, the California, which has a college graduation rate of 36% for Asian. This means that even though on average, Asian is doing good in public two year sector, it is not a Nation wide fact. It is also worth to note that the only state with meaningful high college graduation rates for the Native American is Wisconsin which enrolled 199 students. The other two states only enroll a total of 7 Native Americans. The other high rate state worth noting is the South Dakota, which post a rate of 64% for White.
Fig. 11 - College graduation rates for public two year sector by race
Figure 12 demonstrates that value of this kind of charts, where the meaning of average college graduation rates for private not-for-profit two year sector have very limited value.
Fig. 12 - College graduation rates for private not-for-profit two year sector by race
Fig. 13 - College graduation rates for private for-profit two year sector by race
**Updated on March 1, 2012.
