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More Blacks Finishing High School, Report Shows Equivalency Tests Help Raise Completion Rate To That Of Whites

Associated Press

Many American blacks who quit high school are finding ways to complete it by their late 20s, thus narrowing the black-white graduation gap, according to 1995 data released Sunday.

The report by the American Council on Education said blacks and whites aged 25 to 29 had almost the same rate of high school completion, about 87 percent, in 1995. In the younger age group, 18 to 24, the gap was wider.

The report said the gap may have closed because of the greater number of black people finishing high school requirements later in life through equivalency examinations. Just 10 years earlier, blacks had an 81 percent graduation rate, compared with 87 percent for whites.

Nonetheless, the council’s analysis of census data showed that blacks and Hispanics finish college at a far lower rate than whites.

Hispanics also fell behind whites and blacks in finishing high school, with a rate of 57 percent.

The council, an umbrella group for colleges, universities and educational associations, included the figures in its 15th annual report on “Minorities in Higher Education.” The report included figures on educational attainment for the first time this year.

Looking at college attainment, the report said that 26 percent of whites 25 to 29 had finished at least four years of college in 1995. For blacks, the rate was 15 percent. The percentages were the highest for both groups since 1975. The rate of almost 9 percent for Hispanics was lower than in the 1980s.

A special section on Asian-Pacific Americans sought to dispel the myth of their being a “model minority.” Those students “are perceived as well-behaved, diligent high achievers,” the report said.

It said, however, the stereotype conceals a wide range of educational experiences.

The report noted the lack of even a fifth-grade education in 1990 for large numbers of some groups, such as Hmong, Cambodians and Laotians. College participation ranged from 66 percent for Chinese-Americans to 26 percent for Laotian-Americans.

xxxx GAP IN COLLEGE EDUCATIONS The report said that 26 percent of whites 25 to 29 had finished at least four years of college in 1995. For blacks, the rate was 15 percent. The percentages were the highest recorded for both groups since 1975.