The Chronicle of Higher Education April 11, 2014 Support for Minority-Serving Colleges Would Serve the U.S. Too, Report Says Report: "Lessons Learned: Implications From Studying Minority-Serving Institutions"<http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/higher-education/report/2014/04/10/87580/lessons-learned-2/> Authors: David A. Bergeron, vice president for postsecondary education; Farah Z. Ahmad, policy analyst; and Elizabeth Baylor, associate director for postsecondary education, all at the Center for American Progress Organization: Center for American Progress Summary: Minority-serving institutions face financial challenges and graduation rates that, in many cases, are low relative to other colleges. Exploring best practices that increase student success at minority-serving institutions is important because members of minority group will form a majority of the U.S. population by 2043. Findings: * Minority-serving institutions have helped increase college-going rates among high-school graduates in underrepresented minority groups, in part through affordable tuition rates. While low tuition does help increase access, it limits the revenue available to the institutions to deliver a high-quality education. * Minority-serving community colleges and four-year colleges had median revenue that was sharply lower than that of other community and four-year institutions. * Minority-serving community colleges spent 7 percent less per student on instruction, academic support, and student services than did other community colleges. In contrast, minority-serving public four-year colleges were able to spend 9 percent more per student than did other four-year institutions. * Fiscal constraints affected the performance of community colleges and four-year institutions. In 2012 the graduation rate for minority-serving community colleges was 27 percent below that of other community colleges. By contrast, the graduation rate for minority-serving public four-year colleges was nearly 10 percent higher than that of other public four-year colleges. Bottom Line: Because minority-serving institutions often do not receive appropriate levels of support for the students they serve, the authors suggest that re-evaluations of federal spending would give those institutions the resources necessary to improve, leading to greater equity among racial and ethnic groups in educational attainment and more well-prepared graduates of minority-serving institutions. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2014meeting-form.html for the October 26-28, 2014 HBCU Library Alliance 6th Membership Meeting in Atlanta GA!