Blacks now make up 2.7 percent of all master’s and Ph.D. students at the university, down from 2.9 percent four years ago. The drop has been even steeper in professional programs such as law and medicine – from 3 percent to 2.3 percent.
University officials told Minnesota Public Radio for a story aired Friday that they’re at a loss to explain why fewer Blacks are studying for advanced degrees there.
“That worries us,” said Sally Kohlstedt, acting vice provost and dean of graduate education. “Across the country, there has been a drop in African-Americans. But we seem to be dropping even more rapidly than at the national level. And that raises a whole lot of questions.”
