This post is co-authored with Mayra Olivares-Urueta, a Ph.D. student at the University of North Texas. Mayra is pursuing research related to the involvement of Latino families in all aspects of the college process as well as increasing the number of underrepresented students who complete allied-health degrees. I met Mayra at a national conference a few weeks ago. Because she is a graduate student, it was one of her first academic conferences. She was excited, eager, and thrilled to meet people who cared about similar issues. Unfortunately, during one of the conference sessions, which focused on the impact that family has on minority students and their college aspiration and attainment goals, Mayra came face to face with prejudice against students just like her. The discussant commenting on papers in the session told the audience that (paraphrasing) ‘when we work with those students...

Note:  This blog post was co-authored with John S. Wilson, the editor of Policy Diary (http://www.policydiary.com).

Lately, there have been numerous news stories about hate crimes, cyber bullying and harassment on college campuses. Unfortunately, there has been mostly talk and very little action. Until now. New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg (D) has thrown down the gauntlet to colleges receiving federal financial aid in a new proposal that will be introduced when Congress reconvenes in November: institute programs that teach about the effects of harassment or lose funds. The proposal is similar to the Student Nondiscrimination Act of 2010 that Lautenberg co-sponsored in January, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in public schools.

While an ultimatum may not be the best way to nudge institutions of higher learning in the right direction, Senator Lautenberg's...

No matter how many times historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) demonstrate progress and success, they continue to take a beating from ill-informed critics. The latest incident appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Once again, the author used flawed analysis in an attempt to show that HBCUs are inferior.

Since their inception, many people have labeled HBCUs inferior even though they are responsible for educating the majority of the African-American middle class as we know it. When hurling criticism at HBCUs, most naysayers point to the words of Black conservatives—such as Thomas Sowell, who has lambasted HBCUs for decades, or sociologists Christopher Jencks and Davie Riesman, whose 1967 study of HBCUs labeled them “academic disaster areas.” What these critics fail to realize is that neither Sowell nor Jencks and Riesman did empirical research on HBCUs to make their...

The Obama administration has taken steps to stop federal funding of for-profit institutions that are preparing too few of their students for "gainful employment" and that boast high student-loan default rates. Jesse Jackson and several members of the Black and Hispanic Congressional Caucuses have spoke out against these steps. In a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (September 15, 2010), Jackson stated, "I am concerned that the proposed rule casts too broad and too general a brush on many institutions, some of whom are doing an excellent job at serving economically disadvantaged and minority students." 

Herein lies the problem with Jackson's claim: The institutions that are doing an "excellent job" won't lose funding as their students are much more likely to secure employment by earning useful degrees. In addition, these same students will be more likely to pay back their...

At this year’s White House Conference on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, one of the sessions focused on “Going Global” and giving African-American students opportunities to study and work abroad. As research demonstrates, students who participate in study-abroad experiences during college are more likely to graduate (see the Georgia Learning Outcome for Students Studying Abroad Research Initiative report). Moreover, students who have international experience are more likely to learn a second language, more accepting of other cultures, and more comfortable with new and challenging experiences. Specifically, African-Americans who participate in study-abroad programs are 13 percent more likely to graduate from college in four years and have higher grade point averages than their peers who do not venture abroad (http://www.iercef.org/Home.asp).

Unfortunately the number of ...

This year's White House conference on Historically Black Colleges and Universities begins today, September 13, 2010 in Washington D.C. The theme is "Moving Toward HBCU Cathedrals" and the emphasis is on moving forward and thriving. 

I've been attending the conference for many years. It typically showcases government agencies but has rarely tackled the challenges faced by HBCUs head-on. This year's conference, under the leadership of John S. Wilson, is quite different. The program is aggressive and Wilson is urging Black college leaders to talk openly and frankly about issues such as building capacity in the sciences and other STEM fields, increasing retention and graduation rates, building fundraising strength and infrastructure (in the interest of full disclosure, I'm giving that talk with my colleague Nelson Bowman, Director of Development at Prairie View A&M University), teacher...

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm not a huge fan of for-profit higher education nor online education. I am somewhat traditional about the dissemination of knowledge. I'm guessing that I'm like this because it worked well for me and I love teaching in the classroom—I get a high from interacting with students regardless of their age. And OK, I also teach at an institution that has been around for quite some time!

Last week, The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a story about Tom Joyner's new effort to help HBCU's start online education programs. Joyner has a terrific reputation in the HBCU community; he not only attended Tuskegee, but he has given millions of dollars to HBCU's—and, more than that, he has highlighted HBCUs on his radio show. He shines a spotlight on the accomplishments of HBCU's weekly. Not too long ago, Joyner talked about the trend of African-Americans attending...

It’s the season for rankings. U.S. News and World Report recently released its annual college ranking, which uses traditional measures—e.g. retention, prestige (peer ranking), resources, alumni giving, etc.—to evaluate the nation’s colleges and universities. Likewise, The Washington Monthly released a ranking of liberal arts colleges. Interestingly, The Washington Monthly’s measures are slightly different. The magazine evaluates institutions based on their contribution to the public good, including an institution’s ability to recruit and graduate low-income students (social mobility), capability of producing cutting-edge research and future Ph.D.'s (research), and encouraging students to give back to the country in some meaningful way (service). For more specific details on their methodology, see their Web site.

Using the measures of social mobility, research, and service, Morehouse...

This past week U.S. News and World Report issued its annual college rankings.  In addition to the general rankings, they released a ranking of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Although I am not a fan of the U.S. News rankings and the way they are used, they are not going to go away unless colleges and universities push back.  Given the way the rankings are used in marketing materials by institutions that are ranked highly either nationally or regionally, I don't see much push back in the future.

The HBCU rankings use a similar methodology to the influential magazine's general college rankings.  To assess HBCUs, U.S. News considered peer assessment (25%) (by other HBCU leaders), retention of students (25%), faculty resources (20%), student selectivity (15%), financial resources (10%), and alumni giving rates (5 %).  Institutions considered in the rankings had to be included...

Note: Today’s blog post is co-authored with Nelson Bowman III, the Director of Development at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) in Texas. PVAMU is a historically Black university.

If you take a look at many of the fundraising and admissions brochures for our nation’s HBCU's, one thing becomes clear: Sports and the marching band are valued. There is nothing wrong with having school spirit and valuing athletic competition. Likewise, HBCU's have boasted amazing marching bands for decades. However, sports and the marching band should be ancillary to academics in truth and image. Although sports are often a window into the college or university experience for potential students, as the NCAA has mentioned in their recent ad campaign, the majority of student athletes “go pro” in something other than sports. All institutions of higher education should emphasize academics first.

Yes, the...