Reports indicate strategies to increase minority students graduation rate do work

Some colleges or individual academic programs demonstrate success in graduating minority students at levels comparable to white students. Education Sector's report, "Graduation Rate Watch: Making Minority Student Success a Priority," provides graduation rate data on a wide range of institutions and discusses success stories such as Florida State University where black students graduate at a higher rate than white students.

A recent paper by three faculty at the University of Pennsylvania identified practices in undergraduate programs that increased the likelihood that their graduates would succeed in Ph.D. programs -- even at different institutions. They attribute success to "close relationships of faculty and students, exposure to research, programs where you could have lunch with faculty, (and) exposure to the faculty way of life."