Higher Education in United States of America (USA)
The United States of America (USA) is looking at a much more diverse population in the future than ever before. The U.S. population will be much older and more racially and ethnically diverse by 2060. Asian Americans recorded the fastest population growth rate among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Asian population in the U.S. grew 81% during that span, from roughly 10.5 million to a record 18.9 million, according to a Pew Research Center analysis (2021).
Of the 16.6 million undergraduate students enrolled in fall 2018, some 8.7 million were White, 3.4 million were Hispanic, 2.1 million were Black, 1.1 million were Asian, 647,000 were of two or more races, 120,000 were American Indian/Alaska Native, and 45,000 were Pacific Islander. Hispanic enrollment increased in each year between 2000 and 2018, increasing by 148 percent during this period (from 1.4 million to 3.4 million students) (NCES, 2019).
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2019, at the bachelor’s degree level, the number of degrees awarded to Hispanic students more than tripled between academic years 2000–01 and 2015–16 (a 202 percent increase, from 77,700 to 235,000). During this period, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded also increased by 75 percent for both Asian/Pacific Islander students (from 78,900 to 138,300) and Black students (from 111,300 to 194,500), and by 29 percent for White students (from 927,400 to 1.2 million). The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to American Indian/Alaska Native students was higher in 2015–16 (9,700) than in 2000–01 (9,000). As a result of the differing rates of increase over this period, the share of all bachelor’s degrees earned by Hispanic students increased by 6 percentage points (from 6 to 13 percent) between 2000–01 and 2015–16. In contrast, the share of bachelor’s degrees earned by White students decreased by 12 percentage points over this period (from 77 to 65 percent). Meanwhile, the shares of all bachelor’s degrees earned by Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native students changed by 1 percentage point or less between 2000–01 and 2015–16 (NCES, 2019).
Despite the gains being made within higher learning, it is no secret that there maintains a long and persistent gap between the academic achievement of African American students compared to Caucasian students when it comes to enrollment and graduation. Minorities have not achieved the same successful outcomes as Caucasians. It was not until after the Civil War, American higher education virtually excluded African American students (NCES, 2007). Strategies must be put into place to ensure enrollment and graduation numbers increase in these underserved populations.