The University of Mississippi Graduate School

	UM Ranks Among Nation's Top 100 in Doctorates to Minorities
Kimberly Adams of Laurel is photographed with family members after receiving her doctorate in political science at UM's 2003 commencement in the Grove. (photo by Robert Jordan)

08/27/2003

UNIVERSITY, Miss. - The University of Mississippi has joined the nation's elite institutions in awarding doctoral degrees to minority students, ranking in the Top 100 of colleges and universities granting doctorates to African-Americans.

UM tied for No. 50 nationally in awarding doctoral degrees in all disciplines to African-American students, an analysis published by Black Issues in Higher Education shows. The university's 13 African-American doctoral graduates for academic year 2001-02 equals the numbers at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University.

UM's success rate continues to improve, said Graduate School Dean Maurice Eftink. The percentage of the university's doctoral students who are African-American increased from 15 percent in 2001-02 to 18 percent in 2002-03.

"We are significantly outpacing other peer flagship institutions in the Southeast, where it is more typical to have only 2 percent to 8 percent of doctoral degrees going to African-Americans," Eftink said. "While we strive to increase these numbers even more, our standing reflects the strong and sustained commitment of this institution to promote diversity in higher education."

The analysis was based on data from the 2001-02 academic year provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

The university also had one of the nation's highest growth rates in the awarding of doctorates to minorities. The study found that UM's number of African-American doctoral graduates increased by 160 percent from academic year 2000-01 to 2001-02, putting it sixth nationally.

Besides ranking high in overall doctoral degree conferral, UM tied for seventh in granting doctorates in business to minority students and tied for 23rd in awarding doctorates in education to African-American candidates.

All four of the state's comprehensive universities made the overall Top 100. Jackson State University ranked 16th nationally in awarding doctorates to African-Americans, University of Southern Mississippi was 37th and Mississippi State University came in at No. 58.

Mississippi tied with North Carolina for eighth place in statewide conferral of doctoral degrees to African-Americans. Both states granted 63 terminal degrees to African-American students, trailing only California, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan, states which produce a much larger total number of doctoral degrees.

The success is at least partly attributable to support programs such as the Alliance for Graduate Education in Mississippi, a federally funded effort to recruit and retain minority students in science, math and engineering, Eftink said. UM administers the AGEM program and helps recruit potential graduate students from throughout the Southeast.

"The Graduate School has always tried to lead the university in its commitment to diversity," Eftink said. "Programs such as AGEM and the McNair Scholars program are showing results."

by Mitchell Diggs