I Thought Black Lives Mattered at the "Top" Schools?

If you followed me for a while, you would remember when I made a post called "Rejective Predominantly white Institutions with 10+% Black Enrollment." Since that post, new IPEDS data was released and the dreaded US News and World Report College Rankings came out. So I figured I would do another 10+% Black enrollment chart for 30 of the "top" schools on the rankings.

The most interesting things are the schools that finally hit 10+% Black enrollment and the schools with an insanely low Black enrollment rate. It would be interesting to hear how those colleges broke the 10% ceiling, and hopefully, they could teach the others how to copy their success. We have to wonder why these top schools with big endowments struggle to make their student bodies look more like America. I'm sure we can Google every school on this list along with Black Lives Matter and see some supportive statements.

Words don't mean anything without action, especially when in 2019, 37% of Black 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college. Note how enrollment is down by 1 % from almost a decade earlier. So when will these colleges make their Black Lives Matter statements a part of their everyday life? Going test optional was a good step.

Where do we go from here?

For starters:

1. Getting rid of Early Decision/Action/Legacy/Demonstrated Interest

2. Foster CBO partnerships

3. Promote College Finance Literacy

4. Use College Board's Landscape for good

Student Loan Debt Crisis

Our Founder, Danny Tejada, calls into the Pocket Watching with JT - Real Accountant Reacts show to talk about the student loan debt crisis.

Follow JT on Instagram.

Hear Danny talk more about College Finance Literacy in his last free professional development workshop for college counselors called "Let's Talk About Debt, Baby."

Let's Talk About Debt, Baby: A Workshop for College Counselors

Since the start of my career eight years ago, I have always made it a habit to have that difficult conversation about student and parent loan debt. I have talked students/families out of bad deals from schools that any counselor would love to have on their resume. For me, going to a "dream school" isn't worth the crushing debt, especially with today's starting salaries for Black and Brown students. I always want my students to have a life where they grow and build a family if they choose to. Over these eight years, I refined my debt conversations with students/families as new resources came out. In this workshop, counselors will learn how to communicate with students and families about college debt before students apply and when they get their financial aid packages/award letters.

See the slides with clickable links to resources.

EducationData.org's "Student Loan Debt by Race."

Here is Parent Plus Loan data by school.

A high school counselor named Brittanie Davis attended the session and shared how she shows her students her debt:

She also shared a breakdown by year.

UNCF reports: "Students who attend historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) borrow student loans at higher rates and, consequently, graduate with substantially higher debt than their peers at non-HBCUs—even though HBCUs cost less"

It's worth paying attention to the colleges that get big funding and see how they use it.

There are HBCUs that give great aid. Students, families and counselors need to be willing to look beyond the big name HBCUs.