LeBron, we applaud you for wanting to help out the kids and institution of higher education in your hometown. And, we love having any of the Obamas come to Ohio. But this latest visit brought a bit of heartburn because it was a missed opportunity to let colleges know they have a crucial role to play in student success – and, that we’re watching!
(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
At the University of Akron, only 40 percent of students overall and only 17 percent of Black students completed a bachelor’s degree in six years. These numbers – and the huge racial achievement gap they represent – are way below peer institutions that have similar admission standards and enroll similar students.
(Source: College Results Online: http://www.collegeresults.org).
This isn’t the first time the University of Akron has been put in the spotlight for its inexcusably poor results: Back in July of 2013, Joseph Yeado of the Education Trust also pointed out Akron’s dismal graduation rates. The data at that time showed just 38 percent of students completed a bachelor’s degree in six years and that less than 10 percent of Black students completed a degree six years after enrolling. That overall rate and black graduation rate trailed the national average by 20 percentage points and 30 percentage points, respectively.
All of us – including celebrities like LeBron James and First Lady Michelle Obama – must work together to keep the heat on colleges and universities to do their job adequately and hold them accountable for the rates at which students, especially students of color, not only enter college, but complete their degree.
It can’t be just Hoop Dreams. Student dreams can only come true if all parties involved do their part.