ATLANTA, Dec. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Spelman College has the highest four-year graduation rate at a historically black college and university, a designation based on the National Collegiate Athletic Association's 2004 graduation figures for HBCUs.
"Certainly, the recognition that we are receiving for our stellar graduation rates will help us in our ongoing efforts to attract very talented students," says Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College president. "Young women know that if they are accepted at Spelman, the odds are great that they will be successful at Spelman and beyond. Every institution of higher education promises students a great experience, and we are pleased to be able to say that we deliver on that promise."
Many academic institutions like Spelman are raising the bar with graduation rates equal to or exceeding those seen at the highest-ranked colleges and universities. An article published in the Dec. 2 JBHE Weekly Bulletin states, "Spelman's 77 percent student graduation rate surpasses the rate of 16 of the nation's 54 highest-ranking predominantly white colleges and universities. Spelman's laudable strength is reflected in the fact that it has a higher black student graduation rate than such prestigious and primarily white colleges as Bates, Bryn Mawr and the University of Chicago."
The nationwide college graduation rate for black students is 39 percent, 21 percentage points below that of whites, according to the Department of Education. Their figures also show that when college dropout rates are high, economics often plays a greater role than race. Still, 87 percent of students at Spelman receive some form of financial aid.
Again, that shows that Spelman has a working formula for successfully graduating its students. Bruce Flater, managing editor of JBHE, says the College obviously attracts very high-quality students academically who are more likely to graduate. However, there are a variety of factors that contribute to student retention and graduation, says Arlene Cash, vice president of Enrollment Management. "Spelman has a high graduation rate because we select great students who have family and community support for their success," she says. "We respect them as adults and maintain high expectations that are supported in the classroom, in and through student life, and in our technologically sound, responsive and accessible learning and living environments ? something that does not always occur at other places."
- - - -
CONTACT: Renita Mathis, 404-270-5013, rmathis@spelman.edu
ABOUT SPELMAN
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is the only historically
Black college in the nation to be included on the U.S. News
and World Report's list of top 100 "Best Liberal Arts
Colleges ? Bachelor's," 2004 edition. This private college
for Black women boasts outstanding alumnae such as
Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman;
former Foreign Service Director General, Ruth Davis; authors
Tina McElroy Ansa and Pearl Cleage; and actress LaTanya
Richardson. More than 81 percent of the full-time faculty
holds Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees and the
student-faculty ratio is 12:1. The students number 2,121 and
represent 41 states and 15 foreign countries.
|
|
|
AScribe Newswire distributes news from nonprofit and public sector organizations. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations.
AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press. We also feed news to major news retrieval database services, online publications and to developers of web sites and Intranets.
And AScribe does it at a cost all organizations, large and small, can afford, a fraction of what corporate newswires charge. Click here to see how we do it