7 Facts: African Americans and Education
The education gap between black and white students is still large.
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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
