American higher education is far more effective at helping White students achieve their potential than Black and Latino students

Since the 1990s, the number of black and Latino high school graduates who enroll in college has more than doubled. But three-quarters of that increase has been at underfunded, overcrowded open-access colleges. Meanwhile, white college enrollment has increased only at the nation’s top 500 universities. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, I argue that these inequities in higher education exacerbate a racial divide that feeds into the workforce.

Highly unequal resources between the top universities and open-access colleges drives unequal outcomes. The top 500 universities spend between two and five times as much per student compared to open-access colleges.

Those additional dollars are a huge factor that lead to gaps in graduation rates. If you compare graduation outcomes between the top 500 universities and the 3,000 open-access colleges, you see a striking contrast: 82 percent of students at top universities graduate compared to 49 percent of students at open-access colleges. These unequal outcomes then lead to unequal career success and differential access to graduate school, which is especially important because we only see race-based earnings gaps converge at the graduate level.

I welcome you to read the full op-ed and join the dialogue.

Dr. Carnevale is Director and Research Professor of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, an independent, nonprofit research and policy institute affiliated with the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy that studies the link between education, career qualifications, and workforce demands.