African American Males at the University of Memphis

African American Males at the University of Memphis, a set on Flickr.

Here is a slideshow displaying African American males attending the University of Memphis.

African American males at the University of Memphis

Video-2012-04-17-17-03-10

Video-2012-04-17-17-03-10

Black Men Facing Difficulties in College

Black Men Facing Difficulties in College

            Black men face obstacles in getting a college degree that others do not face. Finances, foreign college environments and negative stereotypes all get in the way.

            More than a third of African-American male students who start college do not finish and become a college dropout. In 2009, Justin Pope of the Associated Press analyzed 83 HBCU (Historical Black Colleges and Universities) and he found that only 37 percent of African American males graduated from college within six years. “That’s a four percentage points lower than the national college graduation rate for black students” said Pope. Pre- college preparation is a must for the black males to get focused and be mentally prepared to continue their education. African American males are less prepared for college than women. The best black students are being recruited by majority white-institutions. “My teachers back in high school prepared me very well for college. I knew what I wanted to do and major in before I headed off to college. At first, I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to pursue. I had second thoughts about majoring in Communications, but I went for it and did very well” said Jeremy Jackson, 25, a former student at the University of Memphis. In high school, some of the teachers care about the students whereas others are only there for a pay check. The students are not receiving support from the teachers to continue on with getting a college education.

            At the University of Memphis Enrollment Services office, the data for the 2011-2012 school year revealed that there are a total of 7,478 African Americans who are undergraduates that are both degree seeking and non degree seeking.  

            In 2009, a research showed that there are more black men in college than in prison. Samuel Collins, author of “Are there more black men in college than prisons?”, stated that “Going to college and prison are two different life experiences with two different time windows.” African American men in college are typically aged between 18 and 24. Any of them can one day screw up and go to jail for numerous of years. Journalist Brooklyn Gipson said “In a comparison between black men in college versus black men in prison, black men between the ages of 18 and 24 outnumber black inmates in that same age group 3 times.” If black men in this age group are not in college or incarcerated, then he is most likely to be uneducated, unemployed, or on his way to being incarcerated.

            Finances are a big issue when it comes to African American males progressing through college.  Every year tuition increases and it is making it hard for low-income black families to put their boys through college. The price of tuition will include books, travel, dorm fees, etc. Money is the reason that most African American males drop out of college. More than six in ten students at HBCU receive pell grants, which go to students from families earning only 30,000 a year. The economy has made it a lot tougher for African American males to stay in college. Fisk University, for example, lost 11% of its enrollment in August of 2009. Tyrone Johnson, 20, a junior education major at Chaflin University in South Carolina, said “It’s discouraging to see so few male faces on the campus, which is two-thirds female.” “When men come to school they think they’re never going to make it,” he said. “They start out and when they don’t think they’re up to snuff, they just quit. And that’s why females will always dominate the college ranks.” In a recent interview with Marcus Matthews, program coordinator of the Teen Appeal, he stated that “Students in poor areas suffer badly than the students that are in better living conditions. It would be good to see people succeed that came from the same neighborhood.”Lee Bailey stated that “Only 37% of African American males are going to college after high school whereas 42% of African American women are in college. Only 35% of African American males are graduating from college in six years. This is compared to 59% of white males, 46% for Hispanic men, and 45% for African American women who entered college the same year.”

Voting Poll

As of now, there are only 35 percent of African American males graduating from four year institutions and more black males need to get in college and get a college degree. So I have a question and feel free to comment and express your thoughts on this matter.

Do you think in years to come that more black males will enter college, stay in college, and finish college within six years?

Yes or No

Black men in college

All African American males need to pay close attention to this video because, education is very important and there needs to be more black males in college to show the world what we are capable of doing in life instead of selling drugs, killing, and robbing.