microsoft word - white paper master dr3.070907

8/13/2019 Microsoft Word - White Paper Master Dr3.070907

1/42

(NY) 98000/700/WINNING.STRATEGIES/white_paper_master_dr3.070907.doc 07/11/07 10:06 AM

Proposals forIncreasing theCollege GraduationRate of African-American Men

The Pipeline Crisis/WinningStrategies

July 13, 2007Chelsea Piers

New York


2/42

2(NY) 98000/700/WINNING.STRATEGIES/white_paper_master_dr3.070907.doc 07/11/07 10:06 AM


3/42

PAGE

i(NY) 98000/700/WINNING.STRATEGIES/white_paper_master_dr3.070907.doc 07/11/07 10:06 AM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 1

II. THE FACTS ................................................................................................................. 2

III. WHY SHOULD AMERICA CARE? ........................................................................... 5

IV. FACTORS INFLUENCING ATTENDANCE & GRADUATION FROMCOLLEGE .................................................................................................................... 7

A. Academic Preparation ....................................................................................... 7

B. Psychological and Cultural FactorsNegative Attitudes; Family Structureand Support ....................................................................................................... 8

C. Financing College Education .......................................................................... 10

V. POLICY INITIATIVES .............................................................................................. 11

A. Addressing the Cultural and Psychological Issues ......................................... 11

B. Education Reform ........................................................................................... 17

C. Financial Aid Reforms .................................................................................... 25

D. Target Aid to African-American Males and Historically Black Collegesand Universities (HBCUs) ........................................................................... 30

E. Establish a Trust Fund for African-American Education ............................... 31

F. Building a Movement to Implement These and Other Policies ...................... 33

VI. LEADING EDUCATION AND PUBLIC POLICY NOT-FOR-PROFITS .............. 34

VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 35

VIII. THE AUTHORS ......................................................................................................... 36


4/42


I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe purpose of this paper is to prompt discussion about the spectrum of policies, some

public and others private, that might help cure the ongoing problem of the low college1

graduation rate of African-American men.2 This African-American male achievement gap has

profound collateral consequences for American society. Finding a solution to this complex and

seemingly intractable problem will require both creative thinking and nationwide input. Some

proffered policies, such as increasing the number of scholarships to African-American males,

will be of direct benefit. Others, such as increasing the amount of federally funded Pell Grants,

will offer indirect benefits. Discerning solutions may also require that the public consider

controversial policies such as the creation of a national trust fund for the education of African-

Americans. This paper does not advocate the adoption of any specific policy. Rather, it

presents both existing and untested policy proposals in an effort to create broad contours for

discussion and debate. It is our hope that an optimal strategy for solving this most important

problem will emerge from such a broad and rigorous debate.

The Sub-Group of High Achievers is one of five sub-groups dealing with the pipeline

or advancement of African-American males from birth through adulthood, including college or

prison. Therefore, while several of the policy suggestions in this paper touch upon topics of the

1Unless otherwise noted, references hereafter to colleges or universities shall refer to accredited four

year colleges and universities. This paper acknowledges that data indicates that individuals benefit from the

completion of two year college programs and also benefit from college courses offered in correctional facilities.

2Research indicates that there is an educational gap between African-American males and other black males

of African and Afro-Caribbean heritage, which is attributed mostly to cultural and psychological factors. Without

ignoring this gap, references in the paper to African-Americans shall include all U.S. residents of African heritage.


5/42

- 2 -(NY) 98000/700/WINNING.STRATEGIES/white_paper_master_dr3.070907.doc 07/11/07 10:06 AM

Forums four other Sub-Groups, when considered with the work of these other Sub-Groups, it is

our hope that issues raised herein will be understood in an even greater context.

The paper first presents the most recent demographic analyses of high school-aged,

African-American males. Secondly, it identifies critical factors that affect college acceptance,

attendance and graduation rates of this group. The factors identified include negative

psychological and cultural elements, racial discrimination, family income, parental education

levels and systemic problems in the educational system. Although many of the factors overlap,

the paper does not attempt to analyze the correlation between or among the factors.

The paper offers various policy initiatives intended to ameliorate the identified problems.

These initiativesto be implemented by different constituenciescan be divided into three

broad categories: psychological and cultural remedies, education reforms and reformation of the

financial aid distribution systems employed by private and public institutions. The fact that the

paper discusses myriad policy recommendations, which combine various strategies both on a

micro and macro level, illustrates the inherent complexity of the problem addressed.

II. THE FACTSThere are approximately 4.5 million African-American males between the ages of 15 and

29, which represents approximately 14 percent of that cohort in the U.S. population.3 However,

fewer than 8 percent of African-American men between the ages of 18 and 29 have graduated

from college, compared with 17 percent of white men in the same cohort; 77.4 percent of

African-American men between the ages of 18 and 29 have earned high school diplomas or

3Race, Ethnicity and Healthcare Fact Sheet: Young African American Men in the United States (The

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Jul. 2006).


6/42


equivalency certification, whereas 85.8 percent of white men in the same cohort have earned this

distinction.4 African-American men are also nearly twice as likely as their white counterparts to

drop out of high school.5 This high dropout rate may have serious repercussions for early

workforce participation given that 47 percent of high school dropouts between 16 and 24 years

of age are unemployed or otherwise not in the labor force.6

The achievement gap between white and African-American males in secondary and

higher education has been well documented. It also seems apparent that the effects of this

disparity have manifested themselves in the socioeconomic prospects for this population. In

2000, the median earnings for African-American males with a high school diploma and no

college degree were $17,000 less than the median earnings for African-American males with a

bachelors degree or higher.7 In 2004, the median earnings for all men with bachelors degrees

was $62,797, while the median income for high school graduates was $35,725.8 Moreover,

African-American males without high school degrees only have a labor participation rate of 58.2

4Id.

5This statistic is based on the percentage of high school dropouts (status dropouts) among persons 16 to 24

years old, by sex and race/ethnicity. Status dropouts are 16- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and

who have not completed a high school program, including equivalency programs. National Center for Education

Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics Tables, 2004, 24 May 2007

.

6

Id.This statistic is based on the percentage of high school dropouts (status dropouts) among persons 16 to24 years old, by income level, and percentage distribution of dropouts, by labor force status and educational

attainment.

7Id.

8This statistic is based on the median annual income of year-round, full-time workers 25 years old and

over, by highest level of educational attainment and sex . National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of

Education Statistics Tables, 2005, 24 May 2007 .


7/42


percent whereas high school graduates have a rate of 72.1 percent and college graduates have a

rate of 80.5 percent.

Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that African-American men who are successful in

gaining acceptances to colleges or universities have difficulty graduating from these institutions.

Though the graduation rates of African-American men have improved since the early 1990s,

their graduation rate is only 36 percent, compared with 63 percent for their white counterparts.9

African-American women, on the other hand, have continually increased their numbers in

colleges and universitiesthe proportion of African-American women in and their rate of

graduation from such institutions greatly surpassing that of African-American men.10

9Black Student College Graduation Rates Inch Higher But a Large Racial Gap Persists, The Journal of

Blacks in Higher Education,2007, 7 Jul. 2007 .

10Id. (stating that the graduation rate for African-American women has increased to 47%).


8/42


III. WHY SHOULD AMERICA CARE?The demographic data suggests a crisisnot only for African-Americans, but also for the

American population as a whole. In terms of morality, the existence of such a socio-educational

gap in any nation, let alone a nation built on the foundations of equal opportunity, is

unconscionable. In terms of economics, the achievement gap is untenable; the United States

cannot remain competitive if it condemns such a substantial segment of its population to

permanent unproductiveness and underachievement.11

Studies have shown that college graduates have higher incomes, lower incarceration

rates, higher marriage rates and are more likely to have children who also graduate from

college.12 Similar findings have been made with respect to high school graduates.13 A recent

study suggests that economic benefits of almost $4 billion per age cohort will be realized if the

high school graduation rate of African-American males was equal to that of white males.14

11See, e.g., Hugh Price, Assuring Student Achievement, Strengthen America Through EducationReforms, The Brookings Institution, June 2007.

12The College Board, Education Pays 2004: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and

Society, Trends in Higher Education Series, Revised Edition 2005http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/press/cost04/EducationPays2004.pdf The data from this study doesnot distinguish between different racial/ethnic groups. It is therefore difficult to discern the impact of these factors

on African-American males.

13Henry M. Levin, Clive Belfield, Peter Muening and Cecelia Rouse, The Public Returns to Public

Educational Investments in African American Males, forthcoming in Economic of Education Review (2007), at 9,10 (hereinafter, Levin) (citingWim Groot and Heneriette M. van den Brink, The Health Effects of Education:

Survey and Meta-Analysis, working paper, University of Amsterdam 2004, with respect to health, mortality andsocial problems and L. Lochner and E. Moretti, The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence From Prison Inmates,

Arrests and Self-Reports, American Economic Review, 2004, at 94, 155-189 with respect to crime rates).

14Levin, at 12. The study compared the cost of implementing five proven policy proposals for increasing

the graduation rates of African-American males with the costs savings associated with health care and the criminal

justice system and the increased tax revenues that would result from higher high school graduation rates of African-American males.


9/42


These studies suggest that the economic and financial benefits of providing education to

more African-American males will far exceed any short-term burdens of implementing the

recommended policies. Failing to maximize the intellectual potential of this population,

however, will perpetuate the growth of an uneducated underclass whose lack of upward mobility

may leave it more susceptible to poverty and crime.15

15SeeJustice Policy Institute Factsheet on Education (citing study conducted by American Economic

Review that suggests that a 1% increase in the high school graduation rate of all men ages 20-60 would save theU.S. an estimated $1.4 billion per year).


10/42


IV. FACTORS INFLUENCING ATTENDANCE & GRADUATION FROMCOLLEGE

The educational underachievement of African-American males is unfortunately not a new

phenomenon. Studies indicate that the causal factors affecting the rate of college attendance and

graduation of African-American males can be divided into three broad categories:

academic psychological and cultural and financial.

Though these studies indicate that academic preparation is the most important factor across all

demographic groups, those most relevant to explaining the African-American male achievement

gap seem to be psychological and cultural.16 Although many of these factors overlap (e.g.,

cultural influences play a significant role in a students academic development), this paper does

not attempt to analyze the correlation between or among the factors.

A. Academic Preparation

Rigorous academic preparation is the best predictor of successful college completion.17

Rigor is an even more important predictor of success than grades. Accordingly, placement of a

student into a program for gifted and talented students can greatly increase such students

chances of college enrollment whereas placement into special education and other remedial

16The most recent studies reject earlier theories advocating the genetic inferiority of African-

Americans. Accordingly, we do not discuss genetics as a factor. See, e.g., Ronald G. Fryer, Jr. and Steven D.Levitt, Testing for Racial Differences in the Mental Ability of Young Children, Current Revision: February 2007

(unpublished manuscript on file with authors) 5. Fryer and Levitt, "Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap"

447.

17William Bedsworth, et al., Reclaiming the American Dream, The Bridgespan Group Oct. 2006,

, at 4 (hereinafter, The

Bridgespan Group).


11/42


programs have the inverse effect.18 Studies suggest that if African-American students were

placed in gifted and talented programs proportional to their enrollment, there would be 200,000

more black male students in those programs (and at least 140,000 more black female students),

which greatly increases these students chances of attending college.19 Unfortunately, the

African-American male achievement gap starts to emerge as early as elementary school and

becomes fully manifested by the time this group graduates from high school.20 The fact that this

disparity commences at such a young age suggests that rigor may not be the most important

determinant of African-American male achievement and that other factorssuch as ones

surroundingsmay have as great if not a greater effect.

B. Psychological and Cultural FactorsNegative Attitudes; Family Structure and

Support

To the extent that there is a common culture among African-American male students, it

appears that certain components of this culture have a negative view of educational experience

specifically the expectation of obtaining a college degree.21 This negative view of education is

18See, e.g., Task Force on the Education of Marylands African American Males, December 2006, at 15

(hereinafter, Maryland Task Force).

19SeeMichael Holzman, Public Education and Black Male Students: The 2006 State Report Card,

(Cambridge, MA: Schott Foundation, 2006). For more information on tracking and ability group,seeRonald F.Ferguson, Can Schools Narrow the Black-White Test Score Gap, The Black-White Test Score Gap, ed.

Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, Brookings Institution: Washington, DC 1998.

20SeeRonald G. Fryer, Jr. and Steven D. Levitt, Falling Behind: As Children Move Through School, the

Black-White Achievement Gap Expands, Education Next, Fall 2004, 65, 67, 71 (hypothesizing that blacks arelosing ground relative to whites because from an early age they attend lower-quality schools as indicated by signs of

surrounding social discord). See also Ronald G. Fryer, Jr. and Steven D. Levitt, Understanding the Black-White

Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School, The Review of Economics and Statistics, May 2004, 447, 448.

21Kevin Cokley and Paula Moore, Moderating and Mediating Effects of Gender and Psychological

Disengagement on the Academic Achievement of African-American College Students, Journal of Black

Psychology 2007, at 181 (hereinafter, Cokley and Moore).


12/42


likely the most significant factor contributing to the achievement gap between African-American

males and African-American females.

Various academic theories account for the devaluation of academic success by African-

American males in comparison to other groups, including African-American females. The

theories include the following:

lack of African-American male role models in the classroom22 lack of exposure to academically successful African-American role models to

whom the students relate and share similar experiences

adverse reaction to disparate treatment with respect to disciplinary matters (i.e.,racial discrimination)23

low self-esteem resulting from the dilapidated state of the physical plant in whichlearning takes place24and

lack of immediate gratification with respect to the benefits of education comparedto alternative means of obtaining socioeconomic success espoused by the mediaand other communicative sources.

Studies suggest that a students expectation of attending college is another important

factor.25 Teachers expectations of students has also been shown to affect whether a student

attends college.26 Several studies suggest that teachers react differently to disciplinary problems

displayed by African-American males by meting out harsher punishments including

22Cokley and Moore, at 183.

23

Maryland Task Force, at 8.24The Twenty-First Century Foundation, Community Returns: Investing in Black Men and Boys, June

2005 at 7 (stating that, because of inequitable funding of public schools in inner cities, many such schools are in a

state of disrepair).

25The Bridgespan Group, at 11.

26Id.


13/42


proportionately higher placement in special education classes. Such disparate treatment suggests

that teachers have lower expectations of African-American male students.27

Familial structure and parental support also play a critical role in determining whether

students graduate from college; in particular, parents expectations that their children attend

college as well as their investment in and financial support of their children while they are in

college.28 We did not review any studies that illustrate how the abovementioned factors affect

African-American males specifically. However, given the high numbers of African-Americans

that come from single-parent homes and other dysfunctional families, it is likely that African-

American male students are disproportionately affected in a negative way by lack of parental

support.

C. Financing College Education

Many studies consider affordability to have a fundamental impact on whether a student

expects to attend college as well as the students ability to finish.29

Furthermore, students who

lack information and assume that college is not affordable or make the wrong cost-benefit

analysis will make compromises with respect to the colleges they attend or simply not apply to

college.30

27Maryland Task Force, at 23.

28The Bridgespan Group, at 13. See alsosee Stephanie J. Jones, et al., eds. The State of Black America

2007 (New York: National Urban League, 2007), at 127.


30Id.


14/42


V. POLICY INITIATIVESThough studies indicate that various factors contribute to the underachievement of

African-American males, there is a divide among academics as to whether policy

recommendations should focus solely on educational reformsthe educational reform

modelor implement changes in social and economic institutions to the extent they contribute to

the achievement gapthe economic and social reform model.31

While academics

acknowledge that racial discrimination may be an important part of the problem for African-

Americans, much of the work carried out by those who abide by the economic and social

reform model encapsulates a broader battle for social and economic justice.

Set forth below is a summary of policy initiatives that are intended to increase the college

graduation rate of African-American males. The discussion focuses on policy initiatives

corresponding to the broad categories of factors discussed above. The initiatives addressing

psychological and cultural matters focus squarely on the African-American male achievement

gap; however, the proposals addressing academic and financial matters may have a widespread,

beneficial impact on the general student population.

A. Addressing the Cultural and Psychological Issues1. Re-Define Certain Cultural Patterns

A students peers can be more influential than a students parents in determining whether

the student attends college.32 Unfortunately, there are studies that appear to suggest that the

31The economic and social reform model seeks to improve health care services for low-income children,

provide affordable housing and eradicate income inequality. SeeRichard Rothstein, Class and Schools: UsingSocial, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap (Washington, D.C.:

Economic Policy Institute, 2004), at 8 (hereinafter, Rothstein).



15/42


devaluation of education is a prevalent attitude among young African-American males. In

addition, another determinant is a students own expectationsespecially the expectation that a

college degree is necessary for an intended career. The indifference of many teachers and other

figures of authority, who do not treat high school as preparation for college and who do not

expect that all of their students will go to college, exacerbates the problem.

The existence of such negative cultures suggest that the solution lies in re-defining the

culture of African-American males in terms that put a high value on education with the

expectation that every African-American male is destined for college. Cultural change is,

however, difficult to implement given the lack of control over daily interactions and the many

communicative sources that students, teachers and parents are exposed to.

Despite the seemingly daunting nature of effecting change, many policies can be

implemented at a micro and macro level that would help to promote a college-going culture.

For example, the federal government or private parties could endorse nationwide public relations

campaigns modeled along the lines of anti-smoking and other media campaigns directed at

changing behaviors of large segments of the population. The media campaigns need to be

targeted at students, parents and teachers. The Maryland Task Force has suggested a program

that starts in the junior year of high school, continues through a two-year community college and

ends at a four-year college.33 Such programs are intended to give students a head start to college

and would involve cooperation among faculty at all three institutions.34 In addition, studies

33Maryland Task Force, at 50-51.

34Approximately 64% of African-American children live in single-parent homes. Several mentoring

programs are currently tracking these issues. Mentoring programs vary in quality and effectiveness. A study by

Valerie R. Wilson notes that students from single-parent or broken homes (divorced, separated, parents who never

married) were 5 percentage points more likely to dropout than students from two parent homes, even after(continued)


16/42


suggest that mentoring programs are effective with respect to exposing students to alternative

messages about the value of a college education. We do not propose any specific mentoring

program, but note that there are several existing mentoring programs with varying degrees of

effectiveness.

2. Abolish Tracking Systems that Disproportionately Place African-American Males inSpecial Education or Low Achieving Groups

Placement in programs for gifted and talented students can greatly increase a students

chances of college enrollment whereas placement in special education and other remedial

programs have the opposite effect. Currently, the number of African-American students in

special education classes is disproportionately high.35

The system of placing slow-learners or

students with disciplinary problems in special education classes is becoming increasingly

discredited because the detrimental effects on students who suffer from the stigma of this

negative classification far outweighs any benefits. Studies suggest that if African-American

students were placed in gifted and talented programs in proportion to their enrollment, there

would be at least 140,000 more African-American female students and 200,000 more African-

(continued)

controlling for family income. Valerie R. Wilson, On Equal Ground: Causes and Solutions for Lower College

Completion Rates Among Black Males, The State of Black America 2007: Portrait of the Black Male, ( Stephanie

J. Jones, et. al., eds., New York: National Urban League, 2007), at 130 (hereinafter, Wilson).

35Michael Holzman, Public Education and Black Male Students: The 2006 State Report Card, (Cambridge,

MA: Schott Foundation, 2006), at 12 (citingthe U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Survey Data,

2002 and noting that African-American Males represent 8.7 percent of student enrollment generally yet representonly 3.65 percent of gifted and talented enrollees nationwide. Their white male counterparts, however, represent

30.61 percent of student enrollment generally yet comprise 35.88 percent of gifted and talented enrollees

nationwide.)


17/42


American male students in those programs; this which would greatly increase those students

chances of attending college.36

New York State is just one of many states in the process of abandoning the segregationist

tracking system.37 Yet even though the New City Schools Chancellor has expressed support of

the New York State Board of Regents recommendation against segregating students, a recent

report indicates that New York City is lagging behind the rest of New York State with respect to

the proportion of students that remain in special education classes.38 Albeit disappointing, this

report serves to highlight the difficulty of implementing effective educational reform even when

there is adequate information about the problem and a desire to correct it. Special education

classes have been ingrained in the culture of American school systems and eliminating them

implicates a change in cultural perspective that may take a long time.

3. Increase The Number of Well-Qualified Teachers (Especially African-American MaleTeachers) in High Schools With Large African-American Populations

Students regularly tell researchers that African-American male teachers and

administrators are important role models.39

Unfortunately, however, African-American males

continue to be underrepresented in the teaching profession, especially given the low number of

African-American men who graduate from college. Increasing the number of graduates may be

36Id.at 8.

37

Jennifer Medina, Special Ed Students in City Lag in Entering Mainstream, N.Y. Times, 26 June 2007.38Id.

39Public Education and Black Male Students: The 2006 Report Card, Schott Foundation, 2006

www.schottfoundation.org, at vi. However, researcher and advocate Michael Holzman cautions that a teachersqualifications, skill, and dedication matter more than his or her racial/ethnic background, and that the most highly

effective schools he has encountered all have had diverse faculties. Michael Holzman, Transcript of Helping

African American Boys Education Week Online Chat, May 15, 2007, at 3.


18/42


achieved through outreach programs that make teaching careers more attractive to African-

American males, increased utilization of paraprofessionals and increased financial and other

support.40

Outreach can be accomplished through various means, including career fairs and public

service announcement campaigns via television, radio, newspaper and the internet. Making the

teaching profession more attractive to African-American males will not be easy given that

teaching is not a highly remunerative profession and that the motivations for becoming a teacher

are generally non-financial. Therefore, any such campaign will need to focus on the various

altruistic notions that attract most people to teaching. These campaigns should focus on the

crisis facing young African-American males and the critical role that African-American male

teachers can play in helping to resolve this crisis.

The private sector could also serve as a useful resource for scholarships and grant money

to African-American males preparing for teaching. Such scholarships could be coupled with

conditions requiring that recipients teach in certain areas or in certain schools for a specified

period.41

The scholarships might even include additional stipends or loan forgiveness for

graduates who teach at schools with high proportions of African-American male students.

40Gerald and Haycock cite as an example the University of Texas-Austins UTEACH program, which is

aimed at increasing both the number and diversity of science and math teachers. Dannette Gerald and Kati

Haycock, Engines of Inequality, (Washington DC: Education Trust, 2006), at 23 (hereinafter referred to asGerald and Haycock).

41The Maryland Task Force recommends placing the most effective teachers in classrooms with the highest

need and placing the most effective principals in schools with the highest need because the quality of teachersaffects student performance more than any of the other factors examined. This Teacher Effect is based upon a

study conducted by William Sanders -- focusing on middle-school students -- that concluded teachers have

significant effect on student achievement. Maryland Task Force, at vii.


19/42


4. Establish Single-Sex Academies or Single-Sex Classes for Low-Income African-American Males and Females

For historically disadvantaged students, single-sex classes have shown a consistently

positive effect on academic achievement.42 While single-sex education is not without

controversy, African-American male students are already segregatedmost notably by

disproportionate placement in special education and classes not geared towards college

preparation.43 The disparate impact of the previously discussed psychological factors on

African-American male students suggests a need for policies specifically focused on African-

American male students. As a logistical matter, single-sex classes are harder to establish in an

existing school as compared to establishing single-sex academies. Because of constitutional

constraints, however, some States may not establish single-sex academies.

5. Increase College Course Offerings and Education in PrisonsThe number of incarcerated college-aged African-American males is much higher than

the number enrolled in college.44 While this fact is often cited when describing the crisis at

issue, much less attention is given to proposals that address this significant proportion of the

African-American male population. Focusing solely on future generations and giving up on this

demographic is a mistake. Many of these men are already fathers and the vicious cycle of

42The reasons cited for this positive effect include: 1) single sex classes are typically smaller than co-ed

classes 2) same-gender teachers serve as role models for the students 3) teachers gender bias is reduced 4)

enrollment in single-sex classes requires parent and student choice 5) single-sex classes provide a much better

learning environment compared to special education classes. Maryland Task Force, at 26 (citingRosemarySalomone, Single-Sex Schooling, Law, Policy, and Research, Brookings Papers on Education Policy, ed. Diane

Ravitch (1999)).

43In classes where gender and racial differences are suppressedrather than servedits almost always

the African-American male who loses out. Maryland Task Force, at 26.

44See, e.g., Task Force on The City University of New York Black Male Initiative, Final Report to the

Chancellor, September 12, 2005, at 8-10.


20/42


fatherless African-American males will continue unless rehabilitation and education programs

are implemented so that inmates can become productive members of society.45

Many prison systems have addressed this problem by offering college-level courses to

inmates. However, in states such as Maryland, these programs have been subject to budget

cuts.46

Such programs need to be reinstated or more fully funded and should be accompanied by

the customary social services such as counseling on interviewing, job research and other skills

necessary for entering the job market.47

B.

Education Reform

1. Creation of More School-Based ProgramsThere is a consensus among academics that early education is critical to closing the

achievement gap because success in college begins long before students ever enroll.48 The

45Harry J. Holzer, Steven Raphael and Michael A. Stoll, How do Employer Perceptions of Crime and

Incarceration Affect the Employment Prospects of Less-Educated Young Black Men, in Black Males Left Behind

(Ronald B Mincy, ed., The Urban Institute Press, February 2006), at 81.


47Black Males Left Behind, at 81.

48Wilson, at 12930. See also Maryland Task Force, at 39; Why All Children Benefit from Pre-K, Pew

Charitable Trusts, Jun. 2005.

http://www.pewtrusts.com/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?content_item_id=2976&content_type_id=4&page=4&issue=26&is

sue_name=Pre%2DK%20education&name=Facts%20and%20Stats) (hereinafter, Pew Charitable Trusts); Michael

Holzman, Transcript of Helping African-American Boys Education Week Online Chat, 7 Jul. 2007

. In fiscal year 2007, Congress appropriated $6.8 billion

dollars for Head Start, which provides federal grants to local private and public agencies to provide childdevelopment and education services to economically-disadvantaged children and families (Early Head Start serves

children from birth to three years). Head Start Program Fact Sheet Fiscal Year 2007 (Washington, D.C.:

Administration for Children and Families, 2007). The Maryland Task Force agrees that although

African-Americans, particularly boys, enter school with fewer precursor reading skills than their white peers, earlyeducation should still focus on all children rather than target low-income or at-risk children, because children learn

better when grouped together. The Maryland Task Force further emphasizes that the curricula of early education

and pre-K programs should focus on developing the reading and writing concepts that form the building blocks of

conventional literacy because these crucial links are often absent in the homes of at-risk children. Maryland Task

Force, at xi, 3738.


21/42


Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT), and Pre-K Now recommend funding high-quality pre-K

programs for all students because research shows that children who attend high-quality programs

are less likely to be held back a grade, less likely to need special education, more likely to

graduate from high school, and have higher earning power as adults.49 These programs can be

administered by dividing the responsibilities among various members of a local community

each member volunteering a portion of his or her time to participatethereby reducing the

financial burden on the schools. Local communities should also create more early childhood,

after-school and summer programs designed specifically to better prepare children to enter the

educational system.

There are, however, potential risks associated with these programs, including the

possibility that qualifying families may not enroll due to the stigma associated with programs

that aid underprivileged persons and the belief that such programs may be of lower quality

because they may lack the resources compared to other privatized programs largely attended by

middle and upper-income children.50

2. Improving Nutrition and DietStudies have indicated that policies that provide health services for low-income children

and their families and provide stable affordable housing for working families, are vital

components to education reform because they may have a substantial impact on student

achievement (and in some cases, at less cost) than focusing exclusively on school reform. 51

49Pew Charitable Trusts.

50Pew Charitable Trusts.

51Rothstein, at 910. For example, Rothstein presents data suggesting that funding an optometry clinic in a

school to improve the vision of low-income students who could barely see the blackboard may have had a greater(continued)


22/42


Highlighting the importance of adequate health and nutrition as they relate to academic

performance, states such as Maryland have advocated the expansion of school-based health

centers and free, in-class breakfast and lunch programs.52 Such states are careful to note that

meals should be provided to allstudents in the classroombecause this reduces the stigma

associated with free-meals programs and dramatically increases the rate of participation of low-

income students.53

3. Implement College-Preparatory ProgramsThe Bridgespan Group recommends that secondary schools implement a default college

preparatory curriculum to close the gap between secondary education and college, increase

college-preparation across the board, and avoid remediation courses that may negatively affect

the psyche of students.54 Similarly, a recent report of the Task Force on the Education of

Marylands African-American Males suggests that every public high school offer an advanced

placement (AP) program. Enrollment in such classes, for example, has proven valuable to

minority students who are not educationally or economically disadvantaged, but who nonetheless

face low expectations based on race alone.55 In addition to the immediate educational benefits,

ensuring the availability of AP and other rigorous courses at the secondary school will allow

students to take advantage of the recently introduced federal supplemental Academic

(continued)

impact on their test scores than the same amount of money would have had if invested in instructional improvement.

He argues that at the very least these alternative strategies should be the subject of experiments to evaluate their

relative costs and benefits. Id.




55Maryland Task Force, at ix, 20.


23/42


Competitiveness grants given to students enrolled in recognized rigorous secondary school

programs.56 Private institutions are currently taking the lead on this issue. Appendix A is a

chart listing, in alphabetical order and by region, programs and scholarships targeted at high-

achieving African-American students.

4. Increase Proportion of African-American Males who take the PSAT in Tenth GradeThe Maryland Task Force notes that students who take the PSAT as sophomores and

juniors score on average 115 points higher on the SAT than those students who take it junior

year alone.57 Moreover, taking the PSAT during sophomore year not only helps to raise SAT

scores, but also helps to raise students awareness of the college application process.58

5. Establish Professional Internships for High School StudentsSponsored by the Publicand Private Sectors

Apprenticeship programs for skilled trades, which typically include classroom time, an

internship and/or paid work, may help prevent high school students from leaving school

prematurely. By analogy, similar programs for African-American high school students planning

on going to college could connect such students with internships in the business world and

provide enhanced mentoring opportunities.59

56

See Federal Student Aid: Academic Competitiveness Grant, at http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/AcademicGrants.jsp. See discussion of affordability and perception of

affordability infra. Enrolment in an AP course is a necessary, but not sufficient qualification for the grants.

57Maryland Task Force, at viii, 17.


59SeeMaryland Task Force, at 26.


24/42


6. Expand the Scope of Affirmative Action Criteria in Admissions DecisionsAlthough the Supreme Courts support of diversity in college as most recently articulated

in Grutter v. Bolinger(2003) appears tenuous following the Courts recent decision inParents

Involved inCommunity Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1(2007) andMeredith v. Jefferson

Board of Education (2007), institutions of higher education still need to temper their definition

of merit to include the obstacles that certain applicants have faced and overcome.60

Advocates

for African-Americans in higher education need to get comfortable with the notion that

affirmative action based on socioeconomic status will also result in racial diversity.61 A 1998

study of 28 selective universities found that 86 percent of African-Americans who enrolled were

middle or upper middle class.62 Thus, expanding admissions considerations to include

socioeconomic obstacles would benefit many African-American males who may no longer

benefit from traditional race-based diversity initiatives.63

Income-based affirmative action is also likely to be a more politically palatable proxy for

race.64 However, just as purely race-based diversity initiatives leave low-income African-

Americans behind, purely socioeconomic affirmative action is not an effective substitute for

60SeeCarnevale and Rose, Socioeconomic Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Selective College Admissions, at

152 (hereinafter, Carnevale and Rose).

61See, e.g., Carnevale and Rose, at 152

62Sara Rimer, Elite Colleges Open New Door to Low-Income Youths, The New York Times, 27 May

2007 A:1+ (citing an anecdotal example at Amherst College which not only joined two dozen elite colleges in

curtailing early admission (which favors the well-off, savvy applicant) and replacing loans with grants, but also

actively recruits low-income students and takes their socioeconomic background (family income, parents educationand occupation level) into account in admissions decisions).

63Richard Kahlenberg, Barack Obama, Tony Jack, and Affirmative Action, The Century Foundation, 29

May 2007 . Sara Rimer, Elite Colleges Open New Door to

Low-Income Youths. See alsoCarnevale and Rose, at 153.

64SeeCarnevale and Rose, at 153. See alsoBarack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on

Reclaiming the American Dream (New York: Crown, 2006), at 247.


25/42


conscious racial enrollment targets; accordingly, institutions should maintain (or implement if

they have not yet done so) race-based affirmative action consistent with the Supreme Courts

decision in Grutter.65 In short, racial and socioeconomic affirmative action programs should be

implemented to complement, rather than conflict with, one another.

7. Institutions Should Establish Support Systems for African-American Males in CollegeResearchers and advocates recommend that institutions of higher educationespecially

flagship public universitiesprovide greater support systems for low-income and minority

students. Colleges should increase their aid grant packages, not only to increase enrollment, as

discussed above, but also to increase graduation rates.66

Additionally, colleges should provide more advising, foster deeper engagement between

faculty and their curricula, and provide more opportunities for low-income and minority students

to better connect with campus life. These goals can be achieved by improving curricular

diversity, supporting specialized student organizations and institutionalizing inter-group

contact.67 Colleges and universities could emulate the University of Virginias peer advising and

65Carnevale and Rose, at 2, 15051, 154 (noting that class rank approaches are fraught with difficulty

because, in tending to favor those within the class who are better off in economic terms, these programs are

susceptible to accusations of creaming from states high schools). See generally Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S.

306 (2003).

66Black Student College Graduation Rates Inch Higher But a Large Racial Gap Persists, Journal of

Blacks in Higher Education Winter Preview 2007, 7 July 2007

(explaining that 68 percent of African-Americans who

enrolled in college but did not finish indicated that they left because of high student loan debt).

67SeeDanette Gerald and Kati Haycock, Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nations

Premier Public Universities (Washington: Education Trust, 2006) 22. See alsoMaryland Task Force 57 (citing

Tamara L. Brown, Gender Difference in African-American Students Satisfaction with College,Journal of

College Student Development, September/October 2000, for proposition that university-based instrumental supportappears to be the primarydeterminant of college satisfaction for African-American males). Task Force on The City

University of New York Black Male Initiative, Final Report to the Chancellor (New York: CUNY, 2005) (CUNY

BMI Task Force) B-2, B-10.


26/42


faculty mentoring programs, which seem to play a crucial role in its relatively high African-

American student graduation rate of 87% (the highest of any public institution for the 13th

straight year).68

Outreach to welcome African-American men on campus should begin early with a

summer preparation program. Florida State University has also had some success closing the

gap in graduation rates between African-American and white students in part due to their

intensive seven-week, primarily academic summer program, which also develops peer advising

and mentoring relationships.

69

In addition to focusing on enrolled students, higher education

institutions should actively reach out and reclaim students who left in good standing, but without

a degree.70

68SeeBlack Students Graduation Rates Inch Higher, at 4. See also Kristen Williams, The RacialTransformation of the University of Virginia, Journal of Blacks in Higher EducationSpring 1995 No. 7, 102. The

University of Virginias Office of African-American Affairs, established in 1976, spearheaded the Peer Advisor

Program, Faculty Mentoring Program, and other events. The Peer Advisor Program focuses on three tiers ofretentionoutreach, programming, and personal meetings with first-year students. Its Peer Advisors, chosen

through a competitive selection process, welcome incoming students over the summer, contact them regularly once

they arrive, and serve as a resource to their advisees. In 2003, the Peer Advisor program added a study hall andtutoring session for first-years, and sponsored a Raising the Bar conference exploring issues of student leadership,

academic excellence, cultivating faculty relationships, and strengthening study skills. The Faculty Mentoring

Program matches second- and third-year students with faculty members based on mutual interests, and organizes

events throughout the year to provide for faculty/student interaction. SeePress Release, University of Virginia

Maintains Highest Black Student Graduation Rate of All Public Universities, 11 Jan. 2007, 7 July 2007

.

69 SeeKevin Carey, One Step From the Finish Line: Higher College Graduation Rates are Within Our

Reach Education Trust, Jan. 2005, 7 July 2007 1516.

70Gerald and Haycock, at 23. Universities should follow the lead of the University of New Mexico, which,

after realizing that many students who dropped out left in good standing only a few credits short of their degree,

launched the Graduation Project, and hired a bill collector to track down students who left with 30 or fewer credits

needed to meet graduation requirements. The University welcomed these students back by simplifying thereadmissions process and paying half of the tuition for returning students with a GPA of at least 2.5. Over one

thousand University of New Mexico students have earned their degrees through this program since its inception in

1996. Gerald and Haycock, at 23.


27/42


8. Increase Institutional Support for Student AthletesColleges, especially flagship universities, enjoy many benefits from their sports programs,

including substantial revenues from broadcasting contracts and reputational enhancements.

Unfortunately, although the latest statistics published by the NCAA show that African-American

student athletes have a higher college graduation rate than non-athlete African-American

students, the college graduation rate for African-American student athletes at flagship

universities is lower than the national average.71 The reasons for this disparity are complex, but

the literature suggests that some flagship universities are admitting African-American student

athletes who are not as academically well-prepared as African-American non-athlete students.72

Such institutions run the risk of being accused of exploiting African-American student athletes.73

Even though the NCAA imposes penalties on its member institutions that have low

student-athlete graduation rates, such penalties do not immediately benefit the students making

up the statistics that lead to the penalties. In addition to the penalties imposed by the NCAA,

such institutions should be required to provide additional support to the student-athletes to help

ensure that they graduate. Such support could include giving each student athlete additional time,

at the expense of the college, to complete the students degree following the end of the students

athletic eligibility.

71SeeNational Collegiate Athletic Association, 2006 NCAA Report on the Federal Graduation-Rates

Data, May 2006.

72SeeAre the Flagship State Universities Exploiting Black Athletes?, News & Views, The Journal of

Blacks in Higher Education .

73Id.


28/42


C. Financial Aid ReformsCollege is expensive and African-Americans are still economically disadvantaged in

comparison to other ethnic groups. Accordingly, proposals that increase the affordability of

college and grant greater access to information about how to finance college will undoubtedly

help to eliminate the achievement gap. Federal and state aid play key roles in increasing

affordability. However, colleges and universities must reform their systems of aid distribution as

well.

1. Increase Pell Grants and Need-Based State Financial AidPell Grantswhich cannot exceed $4,050 per granteeare designed for students whose

personal and familial resources are too limited to help finance their educations.74 However, due

in large part to an adjustment in the tax expenditure/eligibility formula, total funding for Pell

Grants decreasedfrom $13.6 billion in 2004-05 to $12.7 billion in 2005-06.75 A survey of

broader trends shows that these basic federal grants simply have not kept up with college

prices.76 Indeed, unmet financial need has doubled for low-income families since 1975.77

The educational reform model discussed previously is based upon the assumption that

the creation of diverse pools of qualified studentsby focusing on secondary and pre-secondary

education reformscan sufficiently increase access to college for low-income and minority

74

The College Board, Total Pell Grant Funding Declines for First Time in Six Years, 2006 Trends inHigher Education Series: Pell Grants, 6 July 2007

http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/press/cost06/pell_grants_06.pdf (hereinafter, The College Board).

75The College Board.

76Carnevale and Rose, at 152.

77Carnevale and Rose, at 155


29/42


students.78 In contrast, the economic and social reform model takes into account the

precipitous decline in the ability of Pell Grants to help finance a college education, which makes

higher education inaccessible to a significant number of low-income and minority students who

are otherwise academically prepared for college. Some studies suggest that what these high-

achieving students need is not better preparation, but greater financial assistance to make offers

of admission genuine rather than hollow commitments.79 Researchers recommend increasing

Pell Grants in order to shrink unmet financial need at least to the levels achieved in the early

1970s

80

and to increase need-based aid given by states.

81

2. Expand Federal Work-StudyThe Federal Work-Study (FWS) program is designed to allow students to defer the costs

of their education with earnings from part-time jobs.82 Congress should reaffirm its commitment



80Carnevale and Rose, at 155. See also Robinson, et. al., eds. State of Black America, at 130 (noting that

affordability is barrier to enrollment and advocating expansion of need-based programs such as Pell Grants); The

Bridgespan Report, at 24.

81For example, the Maryland Task Force notes that Marylands state grant and scholarship aid

specifically the Guaranteed Access and Educational Assistance Grantcontributes positively not only to the

enrollment but also to thepersistenceof African-American grant recipients in the state: among African-American

grant recipients enrolled in community colleges, 69 percent returned for a second year or transferred to a four-yearcollege, compared to just 52 percent of non-recipients. Maryland Task Force, at 5354. Among four-year college

enrollees, 55 percent of grant recipients were still enrolled or had graduated after four years, versus 49 percent of

non-recipients. Maryland Task Force 5354. But see Wilson, at 130 (emphasizing that affordability is less of a

barrier to persistence and completion than to initial enrollment). However, recent reports that the graduation rate of

African-American students at the University System of Maryland has declined (after a period of increase) reveal the

need for further evaluation of need-based financial aid and academic support. See Gadi Dechter, Graduation RatesSlipping for Blacks in UM System, Baltimore Sun6 June 2007, 7 June 2007

.

82U.S. Department of Education, FSA Handbook 2003-04 Volume 6, at 6-i, available athttp://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0304Vol6MasterFile.pdf. See alsoU.S. Department of Education,

Student Aid on the Web: Campus-Based Aid, available at

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/campusaid.jsp.


30/42


to FWS by increasing funding for this program, which has declined in recent years.83The

Department of Education should also expand the portion of FWS that can be allocated to jobs for

which students may earn academic credit; this would allow colleges to further encourage their

FWS students to pursue employment related to their studies and to future career opportunities.84

Private organizations could reach out to colleges and graduate schools by hiring students on a

part time basis provided that the work is relevant to the students coursework.85

3. Improve the Process of Disbursing Aid and Increase Students and Parents Perception ofAffordability

There are numerous barriers inherent to the process of disbursing financial aid. One such

barrier is the practice whereby colleges defer decisions regarding financial aid until after they

have made decisions regarding admissions. Because low-income students face greater loan

burdens and are more debt averse, they are discouraged fromapplying to many colleges.86 A

system in which admissions decisions are accompanied by financial aid packages coupled with

outreach to low-income students (while they are still in high school) would be more effective.87

83Department of Education statistics reveal that appropriations for FWS, on average, have declinedapproximately $7.5M each year since FY02. See U.S. Department of Education, Funding Status Federal Work-

Study (FWS) Program, available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/fws/funding.html. (last modified 2006). Although

the total amount of FWS aid available has increased since 2003, this is because the total includes institutional or

state matching dollars, and federal or private loan capital. Id.

84See U.S. Department of Education, FSA Handbook 2003-04 Volume 6, available at

http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0304Vol6MasterFile.pdf, at 6-16 (citing 34 CFR 675.20(d).

85See U.S. Department of Education, FSA Handbook 2003-04 Volume 6, available athttp://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0304Vol6MasterFile.pdf, at 6-9, 6-36. For-profit employers must pay

the non-federal share of a work-study students earnings. In addition, the students work at for-profit employers

should be related to the students course of study. Id.




31/42


Another barrier for low-income students is the inaccessibility of information pertaining to

financing a college education, which can lead to the perception that college is not affordable.88

Colleges should invite families to attend informational sessions covering topics such as the cost

of college, opportunities for financial aid, investment tools for funding college, financial

planning skills, applying for financial aid and the long-term financial benefits of a college

education.89 With the recent investigations concerning the conflicts between the financial aid

departments of several leading colleges and student loan companies, society is becoming

increasingly aware of incomplete disclosure by certain colleges regarding cost.

90

One auspicious

consequence of the investigations will be improved disclosure by colleges, including those not

subject to settlement orders or under the scope of investigative and prosecuting agencies.

4. Pressure Flagship Public Universities to (1) Examine Their Pell Grant Percentages, (2)Aggressively Recruit Low-Income and Minority Students and (3) Re-Evaluate Allocationof Institutional Grants

Flagship public universities should be a focal point for policy initiatives because they

educate three-fourths of all African-American college students in the United States.91 Given that

African-Americans are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to receive federal

financial aid grants, the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants also serves as a barometer

88The Bridgespan Report, at 22.

89The Bridgespan Report, at 2223. See generallyCelina Torres and Amalia Marquez, Reaching Higher

Ground: Parental Outreach Programs at the Postsecondary Level (Los Angeles: Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, 2005)(describing several successful parental outreach programs run by colleges in partnership with other institutions).

90See, e.g., Elizabeth W. Green, Student Aid Financial Conflicts Draw Scrutiny of New York Official,

U.S. News & World Report, 10 April 2007, 6 July 2007

.

91Black Student Graduation Rates Inch Higher, But a Large Racial Gap Persists

.


32/42


of racial diversity and the economic characteristics of African-Americans in a particular

colleges student body.92

(a)Reallocate Financial Aid to Low-Income and Minority Students. The percentage of

students receiving Pell Grants at flagship public universities over the past decade has been

steadily declining.93

By reallocating financial aid resources away from low-income students in

order to compete for high-income students, flagships and other research extensive universities

are exacerbating rather than ameliorating inequality in higher education.94 Moreover, institutions

cannot excuse this favoritism on the basis that low-income students are not academically

preparedthere are far more low-income and minority students who meet the high standards of

flagship universities than ever enroll there.95

In addition to increased federal funding, this

reallocation of financial aid should include the colleges own institutional aid dollars.96

(b)Increased Recruitment of African-American Students. Flagship institutions need to

implement more aggressive recruitment programs for African-American students. Such

92 Pell Grant Awards as a Measure of Student Diversity at Americas Highest-Ranked Colleges and

Universities, Journal of Blacks in Higher EducationAutumn 2002, at 103.

93Gerald and Haycock, at 2122 (arguing that flagship universities have turned away from their historic

roles as engines of opportunity for talented young people of all races and economic backgrounds).

94Gerald and Haycock, at 4.

95Gerald and Haycock, at 2122 (recommending that flagship institutions evaluate their own Pell Grant

percentages and other data to determine the extent to which the institution serves the full breadth of the States

residents and aggressively recruit more talented low-income students and students of color).

96The College Board, at 8. In 2006, institutional grants comprised 18 percent of the total student aid,

second only to federal loans (which comprised 51 percent of aid). In contrast, Pell Grants comprised 9 percent of

total aid, and state grants 5 percent. The College Board, at 8. See alsoGerald and Haycock, at 22. Paradoxically,the amount institutions spend on wealthier students (from families with more than $100,000 per year) has increased

dramatically over the past eight years, while spending on students from families with less than $20,000 per year has

decreased. Gerald and Haycock, at 22.


33/42


recruitment programs could involve outreach to high schools with majority African-American

populations. There are many successful models that can be drawn upon.

D. Target Aid to African-American Males and Historically Black Colleges andUniversities (HBCUs)

1. Increase The Ability of HBCUs to Accept, Support and Offer Financial Assistance toMore Students

The graduation rates of African-American students at the nations HBCUs are lower than

the national average and much lower than those at the nations highest-ranked institutions,

including flagship state universities.97 This unfortunate statistic is primarily attributable to

inadequate academic preparation of incoming students and secondarily to inadequate

endowments.98 However, many academics feel that HBCUs hold the most promise in terms of

impacting the African-American community and should therefore play a greater role in the

education of African-Americans.99 Because the low graduation rates of HBCUs is attributable to

the quality of the incoming classes, increasing endowments and funding of HBCUs will not

likely cause a significant short-term increase in the graduation rates of African-Americans.100

97Black Student College Graduation Rates Inch Higher But a Large Racial Gap Persists,

. Two-thirds of all entering African-American students at

twenty HBCUs surveyed did not go on to earn a diploma. As with any statement about averages, there are outliers:

Spelman College has a graduation rate of 77%, seven other HBCUs have a graduation rate above the national

average, and the rest are below the already low national average of 43%. The University of the District of

Colombia, which has open admissions, has a graduation rate of 8%.

98Black Student College Graduation Rates Inch Higher But a Large Racial Gap Persists,(stating that flagship universities pass off the less

academically prepared African-American students to the state-controlled HBCUs).

99Henry Ponder, et. al., How I Would Spend a $30 Million Grant for Black Higher Education, Journal of

Blacks in Higher Education, Spring 1994, at 91.

100It is important to note, however, that HBCUs are grossly under funded. A 1995 comparison of the

largest endowments at the nations HCBUs with those of PWCUs revealed that the combined endowment of all 41

private African-American colleges represented by the United Negro College Fund (UCNF) was less than the

endowment of the 1,400-student Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Theodore Cross and Robert Bruce Slater,

The Financial Footings of the Black Colleges, Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Winter 1994/1995, at 76.(continued)


34/42


Instead, simultaneous measures must be taken to address the academic preparation of incoming

classes. The proposals discussed under the rubric of educational reform are intended to address

such problems. Furthermore, as HBCUs become better funded over time, they will become more

attractive to academically prepared African-American students.101

The Maryland Task Force and other advocates recommend increasing the availability of

federal and state aid at HBCUs, as well as community colleges, to generate aid packages that will

allow upperclassmen to remain enrolled and on track to graduate.102

2.

Provide Targeted Loans and Financial Aid to Assist Students of Color With Dependents

One often overlooked factor in low-income students challenge to finance college tuition

is that many such students (or potential students) have been thrust into bread-winning roles at

an early age and have financial obligations to their dependents. Additional funding is needed to

target such students with loans and financial aid.103

E. Establish a Trust Fund for African-American EducationA trust fund can be established through the combined efforts of local communities, states,

and the federal government or through the reallocation of resources from private institutions.

(continued)

Also striking was Cross and Slaters finding that Harvard University (then with an endowment of $6.2 billion),

earnedin 10 weeks a sum equal to the entire Howard endowment. Cross and Slater, at 76.

101Other efforts include those of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick with respect to community

colleges. Governor Patrick has convened a committee of business, education, political, and community leaders to

determine how to effect his recent proposal of free community college within the Commonwealth within ten years.See Pam Belluck, Massachusetts Governor Proposes Free Community Colleges, New York Times, 2 June 2007:

A9. See also Ponder et. al. 91; Jones et. al. 130; Maryland Task Force Report 54.


103See George Falco, No Time to Lose: The Decline in Employment and Wages of Young Black Men in

New York State (New York: Policy and Program Evaluation Working Paper Series, 2006), at 3, 5 (suggesting

deferral of loan repayments and other supportive efforts for men involved in child support and correctional systems).


35/42


However, the ability and desire of local and private sectors to contribute to the trust may

fluctuate in any given year and so a more permanent system of education-based reparations is

required.104

Some academics argue that a private trust funded by the federal government should be

established for the benefit of all African-Americans in order to support programs designed to

accomplish the educational and economic empowerment of the trust beneficiaries, which is

determined on the basis of need.105 Funding for such a trust could also be provided in part by

private interests.

106

Some academics suggest that the proceeds from the trust fund special K-12 schools

throughout the country, including residential facilities for African-American youths living in

dangerous and generally unstable environments or who are otherwise at-risk. These schools

would offer rigorous curricula in fundamental subjects. For African-Americans who remain in

public schools, supplementary schoolsakin to afternoon or weekend Hebrew schools for the

Jewish communitycould ensure that the children obtain a rigorous education. The trust would

104Given the importance of language in political discourse, the authors recognize that reparations is not

the best word to use when engaging decision-makers on this issue. However, in the absence of more palatablelanguage, this paper will refer to reparations to describe the collection of the debt owed to African-Americans

pursuant to establishment of the trust fund described herein.

105Randall Robinson, The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks (New York: Dutton, 2000), at 244

(hereinafter, Robinson). See alsoRobert Westley, Many Billions Gone: Is it Time to Reconsider the Case forBlack Reparations? 40 B.C. L. Rev. 429, 470 (1998).

106Robinson, at 245 (comparing the $1.7 billion recovery sought from sixteen German companies by then-

Secretary of State Eizenstat to compensate Jews used as slave laborers by the Nazis). For a recent example ofreparations litigation,see In re African Descendants, 471 F.3d 754, 759, 763 (2006) (dismissing without prejudice

claims for want of standing and other grounds; discussing concerns of attenuated causation), petition for certiorari

filed(May 14, 2007) (No. 06-1534).


36/42


fund all fees for these schools. Finally, all African-Americans who met both academic and

financial need qualifications should be entitled to attend college free of charge. 107

Others advocate for the creation of a fund that would be administered by reputable

organizations within the African-American community, which focuses on the most socio-

economically disadvantaged African-Americans. The trust fund would address needs related to

education, healthcare, housing and employment.108

F. Building a Movement to Implement These and Other PoliciesThe policy initiatives discussed above cannot be implemented without action from

various constituencies including all three branches of the Federal Government, state and local

government, individual educational institutions, educators, private organizations, local

community organizations, students and parents. Implementation of these policy initiatives

nationwide will require strategies tailored specifically to the intended beneficiaries as well as to

the various groups working in conjunction to address the specific components of the general

problem of educational underachievement.

It is not easy, however, to motivate the various actors identified above to respond

affirmatively. For example, African-American poverty became part of the national discourse

following Hurricane Katrina, yet 2 years later, no concrete plans have been implemented to

address the issues revealed by that catastrophe. The gargantuan nature of the crisis suggests the

need for an organization devoted to coordinating the multiple efforts required to help cure the

ongoing problem of the low college graduation rate of African-American men.

107Robinson, at 245.

108SeeCharles Ogletree, From Brown to Tulsa: Defining Our Own Future, 47 How. L.J. 499, 578 (2004).


37/42


VI. LEADING EDUCATION AND PUBLIC POLICY NOT-FOR-PROFITS1. SCHOTT FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION www.schottfoundation.org2. LUMINA FOUNDATION www.luminafoundation.org3. BROAD FOUNDATION www.broadfoundation.org4. SEF SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION www.sefatl.org5. BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION www.gatesfoundation.org6. NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND, INC. www.ldf.org7. THE CENTURY FOUNDATION www.tcf.org8. EDUCATION TRUST www.edtrust.org9. BROOKINGS INSTITUTION www.brookings.org10.URBAN INSTITUTE: A Nonpartisan Economic and Social Policy Research

Organization www.urban.org

11.21CF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY FOUNDATION: Giving For BlackCommunity Change www.21cf.org

12.THE CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT (HARVARD UNIVERSITY)13.THE BRIDGE PROJECT (STANFORD UNIVERSITY)14.THE CHILDRENS AID SOCIETY: The African American Male Initiative -

http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/africanamericanmale

15.JOINT CENTER FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES --http://www.jointcenter.org


38/42


VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY Akbar, Naim and Jones, Lee (editors).Brothers of the Academy: Up and Coming

Scholars Earning Our Way in Higher Education. Stylus Publishing, April 2000.

Cuyjet, Michael J. (editor). African American Men in College. Jossey-Bass, March2007.

Mincey, Ronald B. (editor). Black Males Left Behind. The Urban Institute Press,February 2006.

Rendn, Laura I.; Castellanos, Jeanett; and Jones, Lee (editors).The Majority in theMinority: Expanding the Representation of Latina/o Faculty, Administrators and

Students in Higher Education. Stylus Publishing, May 2003.

Task Force on The City University of New York Black Male Initiative: Final Report tothe Chancellor. September 2005.

Task Force on the Education of Marylands African-American Males. December 2006. [to come]


39/42


VIII. THE AUTHORS

Patrick A. Bradford

Patrick A. Bradford is a partner in the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell, aninternational law firm with over six hundred lawyers working in seven countries. Mr. Bradfordis a litigator and his areas of practice include corporate investigations, antitrust, securitiesenforcement and auditor defense. He is a graduate of Harvard College (1986) and the New YorkUniversity School of Law (1989). Following law school he clerked on the Federal DistrictCourt, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Bradford joined Davis Polk in 1990 and waselected partner in 1998. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the NAACP LegalDefense and Educational Fund, Inc., The Doe Fund, Inc. and The Joseph Papp PublicTheater/New York Shakespeare Festival. He is a past Chairman of The Practicing Attorneys forLaw Students Program, Inc. and a former President of The New York University School ofLaws Black, Latino, Asian Pacific American Law Alumni Association.

Ian K. Walker

Ian K. Walker is the Practice Resources Editor of the Credit Group and Director of Training forthe Corporate Department at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Mr. Walker graduated from theUniversity of the West Indies (Mona) in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics (FirstClass Honors) and from Howard University School of Law in 1994 with a J.D. degree ( magnacum laude). Mr. Walker was Lead Articles Editor of the Howard Law Journal and a member ofthe Moot Court Board. In his current position at Davis Polk, Mr. Walker is responsible for

management of the intellectual capital of the lawyers in his group, as well as for training ofassociates in Davis Polks corporate department.

Kevin Wallace

Kevin Wallace will join LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, LLP as an associate in August2007. Mr. Wallace was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell from 2000 to 2002 and returnedto Davis Polk in 2003 following a clerkship with the Hon. Richard M. Berman, U.S. DistrictCourt for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Wallace is a graduate of Boston College(magna cum laude) (1996) and Colombia Law School (2000), where he was a Harlan FiskeStone Scholar.

Johanna R. Dyer

Johanna Dyer is a summer associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Ms. Dyer is a graduate ofStanford University, A.B. 2002. She will enter her final year at Harvard Law School in the fall of2007.


40/42


Albert Garner, Jr.

Albert Garner, Jr. is a summer associate at Davis Polk &Wardwell. Mr. Garner is a graduate of

Princeton University, B.A. 2005. He will enter his final year at Harvard Law School in the fall of2007.

Christine L. Olson

Christine L. Olson is a summer associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Ms. Olson is a graduate ofthe University of California, Berkeley, B.A. 2000. She will enter her final year at the Universityof California, Davis School of Law in the fall of 2007.

Michael T. ONeill

Michael T. ONeill is a summer associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Mr. ONeill is a graduate

of Harvard College, A.B. 2003. He will enter his final year at Harvard Law School in the fall of2007.

Monica Sullivan

Monica Sullivan is a summer associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Ms. Sullivan is a graduate ofHarvard College, B.A. 2003. She will enter her final year at Columbia Law School in the fall of2007.

Jason B. Moore

Jason B. Moore is a Legal Assistant in the Litigation Department of Davis Polk & Wardwell.Mr. Moore is a graduate of Dartmouth College A.B. 2005.


41/42


Appendix A

Directory of Programs and Scholarships for High-Achievers

1. Alphabetical Listing

2. Regional Listing


42/42

Appendix A

Directory of Programs and Scholarships for High-Achievers

1. Alphabetical Listing

microsoft word - white paper master dr3.070907

Documents