Key Issues in the Persistence of Underrepresented Minority Students

There is a gap between ethnic minority students and ethnic majority students in the attainment of higher education degrees (Allen, 1992; DesJardins, Ahlburg, and McCall, 2002; Hatch and Mommsen, 1984; Mehan, Hubbard, and Villanueva, 1994; Myers, 2003; Pathways to College Network, 2003). Racial or ethnic minority students have a higher probability of leaving postsecondary education than ethnic majority students. This is a serious, longterm problem, as there are growing numbers of students of color in the K–12 student population and they disproportionately are not graduating from college (Keller, 2001; Pascarella and Terenzini, 1998). The Pathways to College Network (2003) reports that when comparing groups of individuals in their late twenties, more than one-third of whites have at least a bachelor’s degree, but only 18 percent of African Americans and 10 percent of Hispanics have attained bachelor’s degrees. The gap between underrepresented minority students and other groups is particularly detrimental because it affects individuals’ long-term social mobility. The attainment of any postsecondary degree (particularly a baccalaureate degree) often results in a greater net dividend for minority populations (Malveaux, 2003). For example, the median African American family income is 63 percent of the median white family income (“Holding a Four-Year College Degree,” 2005). If income data are analyzed only for individuals who received baccalaureate degrees, however, African Americans on average earn 95 percent of what white individuals earn (“Holding,” 2005).