The National Urban League and USA Funds collaborated to hold a two-day Higher Education Summit in Washington, D.C., coinciding with Gallup’s release of a new survey of minority college graduates.
Gallup interviewed nearly 60,000 college graduates who obtained a bachelor’s degree between 1940 and 2015, with the goal of determining graduates’ “well-being index.” The index was based on five elements: purpose, social, financial, community and physical well-being. Only 10 percent of all graduates were found to be “thriving” in all five areas, as opposed to “struggling” or “suffering.”
One of the survey’s noteworthy findings centered on the experiences of graduates of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The survey found that HBCUs offered Black graduates a better college experience than Black graduates at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in terms to the metrics Gallup chose to evaluate.
A full 58 percent of Black HBCU graduates reported that their professors cared about them as individuals, compared to the only 25 percent of Black graduates of PWIs who felt the same way. In addition, 42 percent of Black HBCU grads reported having a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their goals, compared to 23 percent of Black PWI graduates.
