Even when diversity, equity and inclusion efforts were in full effect at Texas colleges and universities, graduation rates for black students still lagged well behind other demographic groups, according to the results of a new survey.
In 2022 and 2023, black students had the lowest graduation rates, at 28 percent and 29 percent, respectively, the survey found. In comparison, female students and white students came in at about 50 percent, and male students and Latino students came in at about 37 percent.
Asian students led across the board, the survey added, with their four-year graduation rate increasing from 63 percent in 2022 to 64 percent in 2023.
It’s one finding of many pulled together and published this month by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to develop “baseline numbers” to determine what effects the state’s ban on DEI in higher education will have on students in coming years.