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    Not Enough Day DrinkingIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 3:29pm

    Singling out HBCUs does seem pretty suspect, but I would tell everyone to avoid a school with 20% graduation rates (unless it’s a community college). For a 4 year school, that is horrifically bad, and graduation rates absolutely matter if your intention is to get a degree. Taking a year or two college doesn’t get you anything unless you finish.

    And using data out of context is always a problem, but IPEDs definitions are pretty rigid, so a 20% graduation rate is a 20% graduation rate. Are there factors that lead to a low graduation rate that aren’t included in the data? Of course, but when you’re looking at where to send your kid, that context isn’t very relevant because you’re more interested in outcomes.

    For context, I work at a public, minority serving institution and our 6 year rate is over 70%. Graduation rates for black, male students is over 50%, but because it’s so much lower than the norm, we’ve dedicated resources specifically to address that demographic. We consider ourselves to be letting down those students who start but can’t finish.

    If your school is ok with 20% graduation rates, then you really don’t give a damn what’s happening. You’re just taking their money while you can.

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      500 Days of Kitten CalamariNot Enough Day Drinking
      1/31/18 3:41pm

      But the whole article is about another article implying that HBCUs have statistically aberrant graduation rates, when in fact, 20% of HBCUs have under 20% graduation rates and 20% of all universities have under 20% graduation rates.

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      Not Enough Day Drinking500 Days of Kitten Calamari
      1/31/18 3:49pm

      I understand that. I just don’t want anyone to come away with the impression that it’s ok to have a 20% graduation rate because some non-HBCU schools do too.

      That is a very bad number regardless of whether the school is an HBCU, black serving (different than HBCU), Hispanic serving, Native American serving, or otherwise.

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    Richie RichIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 2:47pm

    “Black people need black people who believe in black people enough not to believe every bad thing they hear about black people.”

    “Black people need black people who believe in black people enough not to believe every bad thing they hear about black people.”

    One more time for the people in the cheap seats!

    “Black people need black people who believe in black people enough not to believe every bad thing they hear about black people.”

    Is it too much to ask Americans to do a little research? Ask questions? Think beyond what’s put in front of them?

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      YeahISaidit!Richie Rich
      1/31/18 3:26pm

      We approve this message!!!

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      MrsJonesRichie Rich
      2/04/18 11:35am

      I LOVE this Toldson quote. I post it periodically when people are trending towards the negative.

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    Dosadi's failed experimentIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 7:24pm

    I need to thank you for this article. Having worked in Higher Education for many years I know many colleges and universities struggle with their first-time-full-time freshman 6 year graduation rates, the number on which this is based. When I read that article yesterday my head nearly exploded. It is definitely not an HBCU thing and schools use lots to tricks to artificially inflate those numbers reported in IPEDS.

    And the students presented in these statistics are a very small portion of the total freshman population of many Colleges and Universities who do not count in the 6 year graduation statistics published on IPEDS.

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    JonsLegionIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 2:06pm

    Thanks for the clarification! Always great to know when you’re being fed a line of BS (bad stats).

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    Optimistic PrimeIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 4:36pm

    In fact, if the percentage of HBCUs with low graduationrates is the same as the percentage of all institutions, that would actually imply that HBCUs are doing better than PWIs with what they have - since HBCUs overall are more poorly funded and admit students who on average are less likely to graduate from college anyway.

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    TPGIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 5:07pm

    The AJC was extremely misleading and is yet another example of how HBCUs are continuously scrutinized and seen as undesirable. When I saw the 20% in the article, I knew that so many things had been omitted. I am an HBCU alum, and friends with thousands of other alums from other HBCUs nationwide. We all graduated.

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    Uncle RemusIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 3:16pm

    Thought I smelled BS. Thank you for the analysis.

    I LOVE HBCUs. I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE.

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    Optimistic PrimeIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 4:25pm

    Oh look, someone who understands statistical interpretation and context! Signed, a quantitative psychologist who is also an HBCU grad

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    BrwnskngurlIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 3:29pm

    Thank you, Mr. Toldson.

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    YeshaIvory A. Toldson
    1/31/18 5:15pm

    My son attends one of the schools listed..and yes, it’s that bad. I’ve spoken to the president abt it myself, and needless to say, administrations at some of these schools really don’t care.

    Reply