While there have been a number of different worthwhile programs designed to help disadvantaged minorities achieve a college degree, the results of the Harlem Educational Activities Fund, or HEAF, are not typical.
At a time when only 20 percent of African-American high school students and only 16 percent of Hispanic students graduate from high school college-ready, compared with 32 percent of all students, according to a 2003 Manhattan Institute study, here is
HEAF’s track record:
• 93 percent of HEAF’s eighth-grade class is admitted to specialized or screened high schools.
• 100 percent graduate from high school (compared with 51 percent for African-American and 52 percent for Hispanic students nationwide).
• 98 percent enroll in four-year colleges and universities. These have included Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, Syracuse, Binghamton, Morehouse, Hunter and Swarthmore.
• 95 percent complete college within six years (compared with about 36 percent for African-American and Hispanic students nationwide).
