SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010


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From Page One A21 Te graduation gap


Several mid-Atlantic colleges have little or no disparity in graduation rates between whites and under represented minorities. But large gaps remain at some nationally ranked schools. Here is a sampling:


Graduation rates, three-year average 0


American University Towson University


George Mason University


University of Maryland Baltimore Co. University of Wisconsin


Christopher Newport University Old Dominion University Indiana University


Hispanics Whites


James Madison University Virginia Tech


Towson University University of Illinois


George Mason University Purdue University


University of Massachusetts Virginia Commonwealth University SOURCES: Education Trust, Department of Education MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST Madeline Tejera, left, and Briana Drewhead to class at Towson, where graduation rates for minority students meet or exceed those of whites. Towson officials: Mentors help close gap gap from A1


cluding American and Old Do- minion universities and the Uni- versity of Maryland, Baltimore County, have succeeded in closing the gap in graduation rates be- tween white and black students. Others, including Virginia Tech and James Madison University, have closed the gap between His- panic and non-Hispanic stu- dents, according to the Education Trust report, which calculated average graduation rates for 2006 through 2008. Towson and George Mason are unusual for having eliminated both divides. Founded in 1865 as a teachers


college open only to white stu- dents, Towson remains a provin- cial state school but is trying to shake its reputation as a second choice for students turned away from the flagship University of Maryland in College Park. Tow- son admits nearly two-thirds of


its applicants. In 10 years, according to school


data, Towson has raised black graduation rates by 30 points and closed a 14-point gap between blacks and whites. University leaders credit a fewsimple strate- gies: admitting students with good grades from strong public high schools, then tracking each student’s progress with a network of mentors, counselors and wel- come-to-college classes. “Regardless of your back-


ground, there’s people here for you who understand what you’re going through,” said Kenan Her- bert, 23, an African American Towson senior from Brooklyn, N.Y.


Colleges once reported a single


graduation rate for all students, a broad average that masked em- barrassingly low success rates for blacks and Hispanics at some nationally ranked institutions. That has changed in the past


decade under a law requiring colleges to report minority gradu- ation rates for the first time. Several recent studies have dis- covered wide gaps at some schools but little or no disparity at others, which proves that “the gaps are not inevitable,” saidMa- mieLynch, a researcher at Educa- tion Trust. Nearly two-thirds of the na-


tion’s colleges have graduation rates of less than 50 percent for blacks; success rates for Hispan- ics are similar. A 2008 study by Education


Sector, another Washington- based think tank, found a black- white graduation gap of 19 points at the University of Michigan, 22 points at the University of Wis- consin and 24 points at the Uni- versity of Colorado. The 2010 Education Trust report found gaps of 15 points or more separat- ing Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites at flagship public universi-


YOU


ties in Illinois,Massachusettsand Nebraska, as well as Purdue. Even schools at the top of the


pecking order, includingHarvard and Dartmouth, have modest but measurable gaps in minority completion, the Education Trust found, although minorities grad- uate at high rates. Towson serves about 17,500 un-


dergraduates, of whom 12 per- cent are black and 3 percent Hispanic. Fifteen years ago, as a way to


boost graduation rates, school leaders decided to emphasize high school grades as the domi- nant factor inadmitting students. Internal research had convinced them that students who entered Towson with highGPAs tended to graduate, regardless of SAT scores, and that students with high test scores but low grades were more likely to drop out. The strategy relied partly on the strength ofMaryland’s public


schools. Towson draws hundreds of minority students from subur- ban school systems in Baltimore, Montgomery, Anne Arundel and Howard counties, all known for rigor and strong minority achievement. “We’re getting high SATs and


high GPAs from schools where high SATs and high GPAs mean something,” Caret said. Towson once ignored the


THE WASHINGTON POST


with mentors. They connect over the summer. The mentorship lasts through the crucial first year. Mentors are trained to practice


Gap-g.AAA PROOF 3


struggling schools of Baltimore City. But in 2005, Caret guaran- teed admission and a partial scholarship to all students from Baltimore city or county who finished in the top 10 percent of their high school class. In one year, the number of black fresh- men from Baltimore rose from 34 to 98.


With growing ranks of minori-


ty and first-generation college students, Towson administrators set about building a network of initiatives to shepherd them through the difficult transition to college. The heart of the effort is a


program called SAGE, or Stu- dents Achieve Goals through Ed- ucation. Each year, nearly 200 entering freshmen from disad- vantaged backgrounds are paired


Topic: Education


Run Date: 12. 12. 2010 Size: 23p2 x 5 inches Artist: Tobey


what director Raft Woodus calls “intrusive caring”: gently but firmly prying into every aspect of the freshman’s life, probing for problems. “You have to eat every day. You


have to study,” said Herbert, a mentor. “I make sure they do it. I do it with them.” Minorities and first-in-their-


family college students are steered into another program, Support for Student Success. Ini- tiated by Caret, it offers an 11- week overview of every resource available to Towson students, along with exercises in team- building and study skills. Classes are taught by trained counselors. Mentorships and “College 101”


courses are becomingcommonas universities work to raise minori- ty graduation rates. But they are of varying quality. “Some of them have good pro-


grams, some of them don’t. They’ll all say they do,” saidKevin Carey, policy director at Educa- tion Sector.


devised@washpost.com 20% 40% 60% 80% Blacks Whites


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