7 Facts on African Americans and Education

1.From 1960 to 2010, there was a marked decrease in the gap between white and black Americans completing a high school diploma.

2.However, there is still a significant gap between white and black Americans in terms of on-time graduation.

3.For the graduating class of 2012, 20% of U.S. teenagers did not finish high school with their peers.

4.Among white Americans, only 14% did not finish on time. 

5.By contrast, 31% of African American students and 27% of Hispanic students did not finish high school with their peers.

6.This gap persists through college. Among students who started college in 2004, 58.3% had completed a bachelor’s degree within six years.

7.The percentage of white students who completed a college degree was 61.5%, while only 39.5% of black students did so.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education