Courtland Milloy - Teaching by example: African American women head back to school

Courtland Milloy - Teaching by example: African American women head back to school: ...It's an increasingly familiar story, yet no less amazing with each telling: older women -- in this case, African American mothers and daughters -- returning to college, inspired by one another and motivated by an unwavering belief that education is the key to self-improvement, professional advancement and even freedom itself.

...Among African Americans, the college graduation rate for women is 47 percent, compared with 36 percent for men -- none of which is really worth bragging about given the 63 percent graduation rate among whites.

Nevertheless, black women are making significant strides, earning 70 percent of the master's degrees awarded to African Americans, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. In 2009, black women made up 61.7 percent of the African American enrollment at the nation's 50 highest-ranked law schools.

The American Council on Education reports that there are now more black female undergraduates 25 and older than there are 24 and younger. And with this maturity comes more of the discipline and commitment required to achieve their goals.