This is the second part of Black Issues In Higher Education’s annual
“Top 100” rankings of colleges and universities that graduate the most
minority, students. In part I, Black Issues ranked schools that grant
baccalaureate degrees. In this issue, Black Issues ranks graduate and
professional schools, beginning on page 22.
Objective
The analysis of advanced degrees conferred to students of color in
the United States continues this year with the simple objective of
bringing national attention to those institutions that contribute, in
raw numbers, to the educational attainment of members of ethnic and
racial minorities.
This is the sixth consecutive year that Black Issues In Higher
Education has published these lists, which follow the same basic format
as in prior years. The lists reflect the production of doctoral,
master’s and first profession degrees during the 1994-95 academic year
awarded by accredited colleges and universities in the nation’s fifty
states and the District of Columbia. (associate’s and baccalaureate
degree production was listed in the July 10, 1997 edition of Black
Issues). The institutions are ranked according to the total number of
degrees awarded to minority students across all disciplines and in
specific disciplines.
Excluded from this analysis are colleges and universities in Puerto
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and other commonwealths and protectorates,
as well as postsecondary institutions within the fifty states and
Washington, D.C. that are not accredited at the college level by an
agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education.
Data Source
The data for this study come from the United States Department of
Education. It is collected through the Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS) program completers survey conducted by
the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). The survey
requests data on the number of degrees and other formal awards
conferred in academic, vocational and continuing professional education
programs. Institutions report their data according to the
Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes developed by the
National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). CIP codes provide a
common set of categories allowing comparisons across all colleges and
universities.
