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How to close the racial graduation gap

Graduation
Graduates cheered as First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the commencement speech during the Bowie State University graduation ceremony at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland May 17, 2013, in College Park, Md. The school is Maryland's oldest historically black university.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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African-American college students graduate at a lower rate than their white peers. While this is a persistent problem, some schools are managing to slowly close the gap.

Washington Monthly recently wrote about the issue:

The most dangerous detour on the road to a college degree, especially for black students, typically arises freshman year, when students take placement tests to determine whether they're ready for college-level courses or need non-credit "remediation." According to a study of public universities by the nonprofit group Complete College America, 39.1 percent of African American students at four-year schools were assigned in 2006 to remedial math and English courses, versus 13.6 percent of whites. Two years later, 69.5 percent of African Americans had not completed the course or courses for which they were remediated; the noncompletion rate for whites wasn't much better, at 63 percent.

On The Daily Circuit, we look at the biggest issues facing African-American students and other groups of students who struggle to graduate — other racial minorities, first-generation and low-income students. What programs are offering the right kind of support to help them succeed?

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RACIAL GRADUATION GAP:

• The Success of Black Men in College Involves the Help of Many
In order to improve college completion rates among Black men, multiple stakeholders must reshape public policy on several fronts — from college sports to financial aid — in ways that create more favorable conditions for Black men to earn a degree. (Diverse: Issues In Higher Education)

• Graduation-Rate Gaps Persist Within Colleges, But Some Campuses Build Success for All Student Groups
At nearly two-thirds of the colleges and universities in the study, fewer than half the black students emerge with a degree. And more than 60 percent of the public institutions studied graduate fewer than half their Latino students in six years. At Wayne State University in Detroit, for example, fewer than one in ten African Americans graduate within six years — one-fourth of the success rate for whites. (Education Trust)