A new report from the American Enterprise Institute, Diplomas and Dropouts: Which Colleges Actually Graduate Their Students (and Which Don't), finds an average six-year degree completion rate of just 53 percent for first-time, full-time students at four year colleges. But the average hides even lower rates for students of color, even at "competitive institutions."

For example, Gwynedd-Mercy College and Saint Joseph's College (New York) graduate 77 and 76 percent, respectively, of students within six years-placing them among the top ten schools in the "competitive" category. Yet only 33.3 percent of African-American students graduate from either school within six years*. This means that even our "best" colleges have a long way to go if we are to meet the President's goal of being the best-educated nation on earth by 2020.

To find out which schools are serving students of color well and which are not, check out College Results Online.

Note: *College Results Online (CRO) currently displays 2006 data. The AEI report uses 2007 data. The figures cited here are from 2007 and are not yet available on CRO. 2007 data for all institutions will be available on CRO later this year.

Source: Edutopia, 6.5.09