Boosting College Success Among Men of Color

Promising Approaches and Next Steps


By Alissa Gardenhire, Oscar Cerna

This brief catalogues strategies commonly used in interventions at postsecondary educational institutions aimed at improving outcomes for male students of color and charts the way forward for future evaluative work. While young men of color have college and career aspirations similar to those of their white counterparts, a significant gap persists between the two groups’ postsecondary educational attainment. In response, colleges around the country have implemented targeted programs offering male students of color a variety of support services, yet few of these initiatives have been evaluated. MDRC has conducted a scan of 82 such programs and will apply lessons from it and other research to a large-scale evaluation of program efficacy that it is currently developing in collaboration with the University System of Georgia. The need for evidence-based approaches that support men of color throughout the educational pipeline is evident, especially at the postsecondary level, where so many male students of color are close to reaching their goals and fulfilling their potential as college graduates.

Document Details

Publication Type
Brief
Locations
Date
December 2016
Gardenhire, Alissa and Oscar Cerna. 2016. “Boosting College Success Among Men of Color Promising Approaches and Next Steps.” New York: MDRC.