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Gaps Persist in College Participation Rate of Students of Color and Whites, According to ACE’s Annual Report on Minorities in Higher Education

Washington, DC (Sept. 19, 2007)—Total minority enrollment at the nation’s colleges and universities rose by 49 percent between 1994 and 2004 to more than 4.8 million students, while the number of white students during the same period increased by 6 percent to 10.6 million students, according to the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Minorities in Higher Education 22nd Annual Status Report: 2007 Supplement.

The report shows that while students of color continue to make gains in college enrollment, they continue to lag behind their white peers in the percentage of 18- to 24-year-old high school graduates enrolled in college, commonly referred to as the college participation rate.

Between 1993-95 and 2003-05, the college participation rate for whites increased from 43 percent to 48 percent, while the college participation rate for African Americans increased from 35 percent to 41 percent. The college participation rate for Hispanic students saw little improvement during the same period, growing from 35 percent to 37 percent.

The release of this year’s edition marks a new publication schedule for the highly regarded annual report that is widely recognized as the national source of information on advances made by students of color in higher education. Beginning in 2008 with the 23rd edition, ACE will issue the full Status Report every other year. ACE will release an abridged version of the Status Report in the interim years (starting this year) that will be available on the ACE web site as a complimentary PDF.

“The data on enrollment, degrees conferred, faculty and administrators in higher education varies little from year to year, so after consulting with our member institutions, ACE decided to streamline the process by releasing the full report biennially,” said Diana I. Córdova, director of ACE’s Center for Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity.

Readers of this year’s Minorities in Higher Education 22nd Status Report: 2007 Supplement will find recent data on high school completion and college participation rates, educational attainment rates and degrees conferred in a condensed format.

Key findings include:  

• From 1994 to 2004, total college enrollment increased by 3 million students to 17.3 million, a 21 percent increase. 
• From 1994 to 2004, growth in Hispanic enrollment led all racial/ethnic groups, increasing by 67 percent. The largest growth in Hispanic enrollment took place at four-year institutions where enrollment rose by 73 percent.
• The largest percentage increase in enrollment occurred at private for-profit institutions. Between 1994 and 2004, enrollment at these institutions increased 275 percent to 880,000 students.
• Students with unknown race/ethnicity increased by nearly 700,000 between 1994 and 2004, accounting for most of the growth in overall enrollment.
• Growth occurred in the number of professional and doctoral degrees conferred despite declines in the number of white males earning these degrees.

The Status Report uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. Census Bureau. The Status Report no longer relies on data from tables constructed by NCES. Instead, the statistics reported are based on author analysis of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). 

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

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