For the first time, black residents of the South are as well represented on college campuses as they are in the region’s population as a whole, according to a report to be released today by the Southern Regional Education Board.

The education-policy group reports that, in the 16 states measured, the number of black students enrolled in college has risen by more than half over the last decade. They now account for 21 percent of the region’s college students and 19 percent of its overall population.

Black-student enrollment nationwide, however, has lagged behind their proportion of the population. And the Associated Press notes that the gains in the South should be viewed in context. A major contributing factor is the South’s rapidly growing Hispanic population, the AP points out, a trend that has reduced the proportion of the population that is black, and thereby has made the milestone easier to reach mathematically.

Most of the increase in enrollment has occurred at public universities and two-year colleges, rather than at historically black institutions, which traditionally have educated the bulk of black students in the South. Many of those colleges still exist, but their share of black enrollment in the region has slipped from 26 percent to 19 percent over the last decade.

According to another recent report, however, the trend does not seem to extend to public flagship universities outside the region. —Karin Fischer