Race, Rates, and Religion: The Relationship between Black Graduation Rates and Evangelical Religious Affiliation at Private Colleges and Universities.

摘要

This study examined the relationship between an institution's evangelical or Protestant religious affiliation and Black graduation rates. The over 100 members of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) are Protestant institutions with strong evangelical cultures. Much of the research regarding race and religion in America has shown that evangelicals resist structural explanations and solutions for racial inequality, yet at the same time they believe that part of their evangelical mission is to promote justice. This study was designed to exam if CCCU institutions actually have a unique and negative relationship to Black graduation rates even when controlling for other institutional characteristics known to predict graduation rates. Such a finding would create a problematic paradox for CCCU institutions---that their identity as evangelical institutions actually perpetuates inequality that their evangelical commitment to justice opposes.;The study included a sample of 917 private, not-for-profit, four-year institutions that were identified as either members of the CCCU, other Protestant institutions, or other private, non-Protestant institutions. These institutions and data related to their classification, size, wealth, diversity and selectivity were drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the U.S. Department of Education. Regression analyses were used to determine the degree to which CCCU or Protestant religious affiliation related to Black and overall graduation rates while controlling for the other institutional characteristics. T-tests were also used to compare the extent to which the religious affiliation and other variables related to Black or overall graduation rates.;Regression results showed that CCCU and Protestant affiliation had a significant negative relationship with Black graduation rates even after controlling for other institutional characteristics. Additionally, CCCU affiliation was the only variable to have a significantly more negative association with Black graduation rates than with overall graduation rates. Furthermore, the extent of the predictive power was greater for CCCU affiliation than Protestant affiliation, suggesting that there may be something about the evangelical culture of CCCU campuses that inhibits higher Black graduation rates. These findings indicated a need for further research and attention to issues related to promoting African American degree attainment at CCCU institutions in order to meet their evangelical mission and commitment to justice.