Black and Hispanic graduates would have received 1 million more bachelor’s degrees between 2013 and 2015 if the share of their credentials were at parity with their White peers, according to a recent analysis by Center for American Progress.
Black and Hispanic students largely completed associate degrees and certificates, which provide a smaller return on a student’s investment, according to the analysis, which was released this week. It indicates that White students are at a significant advantage compared to their Black and Hispanic peers, graduating with higher degrees from colleges that spend more on their education.
“These gaps also show up in the fields in which students receive their bachelor’s degree,” said senior policy research analyst CJ Libassi. “For instance, if Black and Hispanic bachelor’s degree recipients were as likely to major in engineering as White students, this country would have produced 20,000 more engineers from 2013 through 2015. What’s more, the United States would have 30,000 more teachers of color if students of color were represented equally among education graduates.”
When gender is added to the analysis, the disparities are even wider.
“For example, in fields of study, we know women of color are not represented well in some areas, including STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” said Libassi. “Among college completers, White men are 11 times more likely to have a bachelor’s degree in engineering than Black women and about six times more likely than Hispanic women.”
Another example from the analysis shows that White women are far more likely to get education degrees than any other group. If Black and Hispanic women got degrees in education at the rate of White women from 2013 through 2015, there would have been 15,000 more trained female educators of those races graduating over that period. If Black and Hispanic men received education degrees at the rate of their White female peers, there would be nearly 13,000 more Black men and 19,000 Hispanic men with teaching degrees.
Taken together, these disparities signal substantial educational inequities in higher education, even among students who finish their program of study.
