Education outcomes in the United States by race and other classifications

The education of African Americans and some other minorities lags behind those of other U.S. ethnic groups, such as Whites and Asian Americans, as reflected by test scores, grades, urban high school graduation rates, rates of disciplinary action, and rates of conferral of undergraduate degrees. Indeed, high school graduation rates and college enrollment rates are comparable to those of whites 25 or 30 years ago. It should also be noted that the category of African immigrant population has one of highest educational attainment of any group in the United States, but they represent a small group within the larger African American population.

Although African Americans generally lag behind Asian Americans in test scores, so do Whites to a lesser degree. However, compared with children in areas of China and India where some children, especially girls end their education after the elementary level, education in the United States is compulsory to age 16 regardless of race or class. It is expected that over half of public education students will be required to pass standards-based assessments which expect that all students to be at least exposed to algebra by high school and exit prepared for college. In many other nations, such as Germany and Japan, those with lower test scores may be tracked as skilled tradepersons or unskilled laborers.

Education Attainment

(Issued August 2003) Educational Attainment by race and gender: 2000
Census 2000 Brief
Percent of Adults 25 and over in group
Ranked by advanced degree                   HS   SC   BA   AD
Asian alone . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  80.4 64.6 44.1 17.4
Men . . . . . . . . . . . . .               80.1 52.5 26.1 10.0
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.. . . . 85.5 55.4 27.0  9.8
White alone... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  83.6 54.1 26.1  9.5
Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    80.7 51.1 22.8  7.8
Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . .    73.3 48.1 19.6  7.0
Black or African American alone . . . . .   72.3 42.5 14.3  4.8
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander  78.3 44.6 13.8  4.1
American Indian and Alaska Native alone . . 70.9 41.7 11.5  3.9
Hispanic or Latino (of any race).. . . . .  52.4 30.3 10.4  3.8
Some other race alone . . . . . . . . . . . 46.8 25.0  7.3  2.3
HS = high school completed SC = some college
BA = bachelor degree AD = advanced degree

African Americans lag behind whites in 2000 by nearly a factor of two. However it is less frequently observed that whites lag behind Asians by nearly as large a ratio. The group with the least education are not the African Americans, but the American Indians, Hispanic or Latino or other races who have quite a different legacy of discrimination.

In 2008, over 3 millions degrees have been awarded throughout the United States. Half of all degrees earned were bachelor's degrees. Bachelor's degree is one of the most awarded degree for all ethnicities and race. Asians obtains a bachelor's degree more than any other race, followed by Whites. Asians obtains more first professional degree than any other race. A high percentage of Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives own a associates degree compared with other races. About 1 - 2 % doctorate degree are awarded to all races. The table below shows the amount of degrees awards for each race.

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups (Source: United States Department of Education - 2008)

Race	Associates Degree	Bachelor's Degree	Master's Degree	First Professional Degree
Whites	9.3%	21.1%	8.4%	3.1 %
Blacks	8.9%	13.6%	4.9%	1.3 %
Hispanics	6.1%	9.4%	2.9%	1.0%
Asians	6.9%	31.6%	14.0%	6.4%
American Indians/Alaska Natives	8.4%	9.8%	3.6%	1.4%

College and University enrollment

Between 1978 - 2008, college enrollment rates increased for all races. The college enrollment rate is determined by the percentage of high school students who enroll in 2 year or 4 year college and universities immediately after completing high school. In 2008, the college enrollment rate for all races was 69 %. Although the college rate increased for each racial and ethnic groups between 1980 and 2007, the enrollment rates for Blacks and Hispanics did not increase, the college enrollment rates for Blacks have increased from 44 % to 56 %. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rates for Hispanics have increased from 50 % to 62 %. There are no data for Asians or American Indians/Alaska Natives regarding enrollment rates from the 1980s to 2007.

In 2009, the enrollment rate increased tremendously. More than 70% of high schools students enrolled in college or university immediately after high school. Asian Americans have the highest enrollment rate (92.2%), followed by Whites (69.2%), Blacks (68.7%), and Hispanics (59.3%).

Parenting Influence

Parenting methods are different across cultures, thus can have dramatic influence on education outcomes.^{[citation needed]} For instance, many Asian parents apply strict rules and parental authoritarianism to their children while American parents deem creativity and self-sufficiency to be more valuable.^{[citation needed]} The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Yale Professor Amy Chua, had especially highlighted some of the very important aspects in Asian parenting method in comparison to the “American way”. Chua’s books has generate much interests and controversies in “Tiger Mom” parenting method and its role in determining the education outcome of the children.^{[citation needed]}

Illiteracy

African Americans were once denied equal educations. Even as late as 1947, about one third of African Americans over 65 were considered to lack the literacy to read and write their own names. However, by 1969, illiteracy as it had been traditionally defined, had been largely eradicated among African Americans—the number of among young adults was less than one percent, though African Americans still lag in more stringent definitions of document literacy. Inability to read, write or speak English in America today is largely an issue for immigrants, mostly from Asia and Latin America.

Illiteracy by Age And Race: 1947 to 1969
In thousands except percent
Civilian noninstitutional population 14 yrs and over
Source: US census

Nov 1969	14 ovr	14-24	25-44	45-64	65+
Total	1.0	0.3	0.5	1.1	3.5
White	0.7	0.2	0.4	0.7	2.3
Black	3.6	0.5	1.6	5.5	16.7
Mar 1959
Total	2.2	0.6	1.2	2.6	6.5
White	1.6	0.5	0.8	1.8	5.1
Black	7.5	1.2	5.1	11.3	25.5
Oct 1952
Total	2.5	1.2	1.3	3.5	6.9
White	1.8	0.8			5.0
Black		10.2	3.9		33.3
Oct 1947
Total	2.7	1.0	1.7	4.0	6.7
White	1.8	0.6			4.9
Black	11.0	4.4			32.4

Governmental policies

Successive U.S. governments have implemented many policies aimed at improving African American education.^{[citation needed]} Schools were once legally segregated, and African American children often assigned to inferior schools, before people like Ruby Bridges challenged these policies in the 1960s.^{[citation needed]} However, scholars, such as Gary Orrfield of Harvard, observe that many African Americans continue to be effectively segregated from other races in low-scoring schools.^{[citation needed]} Some desegregation programs, such as that in Seattle, Washington, have been opposed as stepping over the original goal of simply creating freedom to attend schools nearby their communities to making certain politically determined racial percentages a goal in itself.^{[citation needed]}

Multiculturalism has been introduced to be more inclusive of African American and other minority cultures and history.^{[citation needed]} Most school districts have also adopted diversity policies to encourage the hiring of more minority teachers and staff.^{[citation needed]} Many progressive education curriculum reform policies, such as reform mathematics and inquiry-based science, were designed to be more inclusive of minority students and cultures and learning styles.^{[citation needed]} As in the larger majority community, there remains a split between conservatives who believe that individuals should concentrate on a race-blind programs to master the same content as the most educated ethnic groups, and liberals who believe that the long historical legacy of discrimination and exclusion remains the largest impediment to equality in education. They emphasize race-conscious policies and the continued application of affirmative action and desegregation principles.

Private school education for African Americans

In Chicago, African American Marva Collins created a low cost private school specifically for the purpose of teaching low income African American children whom the public school system had labeled as being "learning disabled." One article about Marva Collins' school stated, "Working with students having the worst of backgrounds, those who were working far below grade level, and even those who had been labeled as 'unteachable,' Marva was able to overcome the obstacles. News of third grade students reading at ninth grade level, four-year-olds learning to read in only a few months, outstanding test scores, disappearance of behavioral problems, second-graders studying Shakespeare, and other incredible reports, astounded the public."

During the 2006-2007 school year, Collins' school charged $5,500 for tuition, and parents said that the school did a much better job than the Chicago public school system. Meanwhile, during the 2007-2008 year, Chicago public school officials claimed that their budget of $11,300 per student was not enough.

Immigrants & Foreign-born

Educational attainment rates change when it comes to comparing the same races against immigrants or foreign born students. Black African and Caribbean immigrant groups to the U.S report having higher level of education then any other group. Of all foreign-born U.S. residents, foreign born Africans (those who came from the African continent) had the highest level of educational attainment than any other group in the United States across race and ethnicity. They tend to be highly educated and be fluent in English. This trend was first reported in the 1990s' by the Journal of blacks in Higher Education and still continues today. According to the U.S census, "43.8 percent of African immigrants had achieved a college degree, compared with 42.5 of Asian-Americans, 28.9 percent for immigrants from Europe, Russia and Canada and 23.1 percent of the U.S. population as a whole." The educational attainment amount varies by group. According to the U.S. Census, out of the African populations, Nigerians reported to having the highest level of education in the U.S Nigerian immigrants have the highest levels of education in this city and the nation, surpassing whites and Asians..

High school graduation

Completed High School age 25-29 (1998)

	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian
25+	88%	77%	56%	85%
25-29	93%	89%

US Census surveys showed that by 1998, 89 percent of African Americans age 25 to 29 had completed high school, lagging only slightly behind 93 percent for whites. For all over the age of 25, clear majorities of whites, Asian Americans and African Americans had graduated at 88 percent, 85 percent and 77 percent, respectively. 56 percent, or barely over half of Hispanics 25 and over, had completed high school.

Testing

IQ tests have been largely banned for use in education in states such as California. But new graduation examinations have raised the standards for a diploma to a level necessary to succeed in admission to college, rather than passing for a minimal level of effort and learning.^{[citation needed]}

Income and class

SAT Test scores vs income and race

        white     |black    |Hispanic  |Asian
income  verbamath |v    m   |v    m   |v    m
x$1,000           |         |         |
under 10  409  460| 320  315| 330  386| 343  482
10-20     418  459| 337  369| 349  403| 363  500
20-30     428  471| 352  382| 369  420| 397  518
30-40     433  478| 362  393| 384  431| 415  528
40-50     439  488| 375  405| 399  446| 432  537
50-60     446  498| 382  414| 409  456| 444  549
60-70     453  506| 385  415| 415  458| 453  558
over 70   475  533| 407  442| 430  478| 476  595
overall   448  498| 376  426| 356  388| 418  538

Source: 1995 College Board SAT Profiles

Conservative African American scholars such as Thomas Sowell observe that while SAT scores are lower for students with less parental education and income. Asian Americans who took the SAT with incomes below $10,000 score 482 in math in 1995, comparable to whites earning $30–40,000 and higher and blacks over $70,0000. Test scores in middle-income black communities, such as Prince George County, are still not comparable to those in non-black suburbs.

State standards

Most state tests showing African American failure rates anywhere from two to four times the rate of whites, such as Washington State's WASL test, and only half to one-quarter as likely to achieve a high score, even though these tests were designed to eliminate the negative effects of bias associated with standardized multiple choice tests. It is a top goal of education reform to eliminate the Education gap between all races, though skeptics question whether legislation such as No Child Left Behind truly closes the gap just by raising expectations. Others, such as Alfie Kohn, observe it may merely penalize those who do not score as well as the most educated ethnic and income groups.

Scored Level 3 on WASL Washington Assessment of Student Learning, Mathematics Grade 4 (1997) Data: Office Washington State Superintendent of Instruction

White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	Native American
17.1%	4.0%	4.3%	15.6%	1.6%

Religion

The amount of education completed varies greatly between members of religions in the United States. Over 74% of Hindus, 59% of Jews and 51% of Unitarians have 4 or more years of college, compared with 27% of the total population. Members of evangelical churches, historically black Protestant churches and Jehovah’s Witness are just 20%, 16% and 9%, respectively.

US Religions Ranked by percentage with 4 or more years of college From “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” Pew Research Center, 2007 Due to rounding, rows may not add to 100.

ranked by college+                      lesshs  hsgrad  somecol colgrad postg   sample   colgrad+
1 Hindu                                   4       12      10      26      48      253      74
2 JewishReform                            1       17      17      31      35      315     66
3 Jewish                                  3       19      19      24      35      676     59
4 JewishConservative                      4       18      21      23      35      218     58
5 Unitarian and Other Liberal Faiths      3       16      30      22      29      296     51
6 Buddhist                                3       23      26      22      26      408     48
7 Orthodox                                6       26      22      28      18      362     46
8 Greek Orthodox                          2       33      21      25      18      168     43
9 Agnostic                                5       22      29      23      20      825     43
10 Atheist                                8       28      23      21      21      509     42
11 Other Christian                         12      22      27      20      20      129     40
12 Other Faiths                            7       25      28      18      21      448     39
13 Members of Mainline Protestant Churches 9       34      24      20      14      7,429   34
14 Secular Unaffiliated                    10      35      24      17      13      1,995   30
15 Unaffiliated                            13      34      24      16      13      5,009   29
16 Mormon                                  9       30      32      18      10      578     28
17 Total Population                        14      36      23      16      11     35,298   27
18 Catholic                                17      36      21      16      10      7,990   26
19 Total Protestants                       14      38      24      15      9       18,825  24
20 Muslim*                                 21      32      23      14      10      1,031   24
21 New Age                                 13      38      25      13      11      118     24
22 Members of Evangelical Prot. Churches   16      40      24      13      7       9,411   20
23 Religious Unaffiliated                  21      40      22      11      6       1,680   17
24 Members of Hist. Black Prot. Churches   19      40      25      11      5       1,985   16
25 Jehovah’s Witness                       19      51      22      6       3       211     9

International Comparison

As a whole, students in the United States lagged the best Asian and European nations in the TIMSS international math and science test. However, broken down by race, US Asians scored comparably to Asian nations, white Americans scored comparably to the best European nations. Although some racial generally score lower than whites in the US, they scored as well as whites in other European nations. Hispanic Americans averaged 505, comparable to students Austria and Sweden, while African Americans at 482 were comparable to Norway, and Ukraine.

International educational math scores (2007) (4th graders average score, TIMSS International Math and Science Study, 2007)
American students: (by origin)	Maths
	Score
Asian American	582
European American	550
Hispanic American	504
African American	482
Highlights From TIMSS 2007

See also

• Education in the United States