Why Are So Few Young Men of Color Graduating High School? - COLORLINES

Why Are So Few Young Men of Color Graduating High School? - COLORLINES: There’s a new way to look at data released earlier this summer on the challenges young men of color face in school. Earlier this summer, the College Board released a new report that offers more detailed insight into what holds many of these young men back in school. The association, which is made up of more than 5,900 educational organizations that sell standardized tests like the SAT, studied four different groups: African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Hispanics/Latinos and Native Americans. The research spans the course of their journeys and detours from kindergarden to college.

Sadly, the results weren’t surprising. It found that nearly half of young men of color age 15 to 24 who graduate from high school in the U.S. will end up unemployed, incarcerated or dead. Of the five groups studied, Native American males with high school diplomas were the least likely to be enrolled in secondary education programs.

“At a time when our nation is committed to reclaiming its place as the world leader in higher education, we can no longer afford to ignore the plight of our young men of color,” said Gaston Caperton, College Board President, shortly after the report was released in June. “As long as educational opportunities are limited for some, we all suffer.”