A new report praised UW-Madison for improving graduation rates for students of color as well as overall, while singling out UW-Milwaukee as a school that must "get far more serious about success rates for their black students."
The study, conducted by The Education Trust and titled “Rising Tide: Do College Grad Rate Gains Benefit All Students?”, reported that UW-Madison’s six-year graduation rate for underrepresented students—defined as Latino, black or Native students—increased by 12.2 percentage points between 2003 and 2013, reaching 68.3 percent. The overall graduation rate was 82.2 percent, 6 points higher than in 2003.
The report named UW-Madison, along with 25 other schools, as one of the nation’s leaders in increasing graduation rates. The study examined 255 institutions in total.
UW-Madison leaders heralded the study’s findings, while acknowledging the gap that still exists between the graduation rates of white students and students of color.
“These gains can be attributed to leadership, student support via the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, and the sustained work of a wide variety of staff and faculty on campus that made success for all students a priority,” Steven M. Cramer, UW-Madison’s vice provost for teaching and learning, said in a release. “But there’s more work to be done.”
White students who entered UW-Madison in 2006, 2007 and 2008 graduated at a rate of 86.3 percent over six years, the report said. 66.8 percent of their black peers graduated in six years, a gap of 19.5 points.
However, UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone said this gap has become smaller in more recent years.
“For the three most recent cohorts (entering in 2008, 2009, and 2010), the 3 year average graduation rate for African American students was 74.4% and for white students it was 86.7%,” McGlone said in a statement. “The gap had narrowed to 12.3 percentage points.”
McGlone also said UW-Madison’s “current graduation rate for African-American students is higher than the national graduation rate for all students.”
The study showed a far different story at UW-Milwaukee, however. Only 21 percent of the school’s black students graduate in six years, an alarmingly low rate compared to the rest of the universities analyzed by The Education Trust. The gap between those students and their white peers is 24.3 percent.
The report cited disproportionately large social, academic and financial challenges for black students as a reason for graduation rate gaps the study found at many schools. It also stated that “chilly or hostile campus racial climates have been found to have negative effects on black student outcomes.”
