Black College Enrollment Surpassing White College Enrollment for Years Now

Contrary to the many talking points on the news and social media which would make one think that Black American people simply aren’t interested in going to college, Black Americans are going to college and at a much higher rate than White Americans, and it has been that way for years.

According to Georgetown Edu, “Between 2012 to 2022, enrollment of white undergraduate students has fallen more than that of any other racial group—findings that have surprised many colleges and demographers.” The article also goes on to say that “Rising college costs and decent-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree have been significant factors in drawing white students away from higher education, even as research shows that a college education is a good investment.” 

For over a decade, there have been declines across the board for college enrollment, and due to this steady decline, one can make the suggestion that the high price of education is to blame, and students of every demographic are searching for a decent career through apprenticeship or entry level no degree needed instead of going the high debt of college enrollment route.

Reports tend to solely focus on downturns in Black College Enrollment, when the trend of doing so is really bias and projecting stereotypes that Black Americans don’t value education. This isn’t to say that Black American college enrollment isn’t also down some, however, Black Americans are still consistently outpacing White Americans in college enrollment along with other racial groups. This fact corresponds with the of Black Americans still being among the more educated demographics in the United States, specifically Black American women.

Black American people do value education, and are outpacing White Americans in college enrollment, however, if one takes into account the cost of higher education, one can determine that it isn’t that students don’t value education, black, white or Latino/Hispanic, it’s just that college is simply unaffordable for most people.

To focus on Black American people as if they lead the trend in the decline feeds into harmful stereotypes without the full picture.