What Will Young Black Men Do? New Study Says Fewer Plan To Attend College

Millions of young Americans are graduating from college this year, but the future for higher education may very well include fewer male students. According to Inside Higher Education, the number of Latino and Black male high school seniors who want to go to college has declined in the last three years.

Judah Monroe, who graduated earlier this week from Concorde College in Kansas City, understands. He’s in the health care profession.

“I was discussing this with one of my patients [the lack of diversity],” he said. “At my office there are two Black doctors, one male and one female. And there are two nurses, me and someone else. We are starting to see a lot more people of color in these positions, and I think it’s awesome.”

Monroe works in a Family Medicine clinic and admits he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He described his decision as move he “fell into.” But now that he has finished his 10-month program, he is ready for more.

The nonprofit, YouthTruth, surveyed 22,000 members of the Class of 2022 and compared the results with a similar survey of the Class of 2019 which was the last high school class to predate the pandemic.

For Black students, the percentage who want to go to college dropped from 79% to 72%. The numbers for Latino students fell from 79% to 71%. And overall the percentage of all male students who want to go to college dropped from 74% to 67%.

In the class of 2022, 76% of white students said they want to go to college.
Among women in the class, 82% want to attend college.

A key factor in determining the students’ plans revealed the impact of the pandemic. The report says, “The graduating class of 2022 has lived more than half of their high school career during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

During that time, Monroe made some changes that influenced his decision to pursue more education even though it wasn’t a four-year degree.

“It’s been a life journey,” he explained. “I was not this kind of person a couple years ago. I was lazy, unmotivated — I would say even depressed at times.”

He made a choice and relocated. 

Monroe said, “I give the biggest credit to my grandpa. I left Missouri for a brief time, and I went to stay with him. And I kinda had to strip myself down.”

College administrators expect many students will face uncertainty about their future. But they say the amount of it also depends on race. The report says 47% of white students are sure they will attend a four-year college while 46% of Black students plan to attend. The number is much higher for Asian and Asian American students with 71% expressing plans to go to college.

Judah Monroe is not planning to enroll in a four-year program, but he does plan to continue his education and become a nurse practitioner.
With excitement he said, “My dreams don’t stop for nobody.”