ABSTRACT
The educational pipeline is now far reaching, but it continues to have troublesome leaks for African-American students. Unlike the 1970s and 1980s, the 1990s were a period of dramatic growth in the number of African Americans participating in higher education. By comparison, enrollment in degree-granting, public four-year institutions provides a different picture of the states in which African-American students are enrolled in large numbers. The next challenge for college and university officials and others is to better improve the degree attainment or graduation rates of African-American students. The status of the educational pipeline of the 21st century has some important implications for access and diversity for African-American students and institutions of higher education. These implications are in the area of legal and political developments; access issues for late bloomers; and issues related to diversity. In general, the graduation levels for African Americans lag behind all other racial/ethnic groups.
