Dropout rate for blacks reaches 17-year high

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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - More than 1 in 4 black freshmen at Maryland's public colleges last year dropped out after their first year, the most in 17 years, a new report reveals.

“What's happening to African-American males is a tragedy, but we can't just keep talking about it being a tragedy,” said James Lyons Sr., state higher education secretary. “Working slowly to address these issues is one thing, but moving backward is another.”

About 28 percent of African-American students don’t return for a second year, according to the 2007 Performance Accountability Report for Maryland Public Colleges and Universities.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission, a policymaking group, has published college accountability reports for 20 years.

But this marks the first time its members were so upset with the statistics that they decided Wednesday to start offering recommendations to the colleges about how they could improve minority achievement and possibly tie schools' state funding with their ability to improve.

The commission plans to use its bully pulpit to make sure colleges work to fix problems instead of letting the report sit on a shelf, said Michael Keller, the commission's director of policy analysis and research.

Leronia Josey, a commission member and Baltimore attorney, said she was “astounded” by the numbers.

“Half of the students are at historically black institutions so we need to step up the quality, or half of my ethnic group is going to be behind the eight ball before they graduate,” she said.

Coppin State University, for example, has failed to meet its target of graduating 30 percent of its black students within six

years, instead typically graduating less than a quarter of students in that span, according to the report.

Many of the drop-outs couldn't afford to stay in school, Coppin officials say.

At the same time, 62 to 64 percent of black students at traditionally white schools, such as Towson University and University Maryland, Baltimore County, graduate within six years.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com

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