Georgia State tops list for black bachelors degrees, report says

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Atlanta is the place-to-be for diversity and bachelor’s degrees.

For the sixth year in a row, Georgia State University has been named the top school in the nation among not-for-profit schools for awarding undergraduate degrees to African Americans, GSU reports.

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According to the “Diverse Top 100” list by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, GSU ranks supreme in awarding bachelor’s degrees in biological and biomedical sciences, finance and financial management services; foreign languages, literature and linguistics; history; marketing; psychology; and social sciences.

The University of Phoenix and Ashford University, both for-profit schools, award the most undergraduate degrees to African-Americans.

The school has worked to close the achievement gap based on race, ethnicity or income.  According to reports, the university improved its graduation rates by 23 points. Now African-American, students as well as Hispanic, Asian-American and low-income students are on par with graduating with the rest of their peers in the overall student body.

“The message here is simple: students’ chances of graduating need not be dependent on their race, ethnicity or income level,” senior vice president for student success Timothy Renick said. “All students can succeed at high rates.”

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“Georgia State’s graduate programs attract outstanding students from diverse backgrounds who go on to become leaders in business, academia, as well as government and health sectors,” said Lisa Armistead, associate provost for graduate programs.  “Diversification of the nation’s professional workforce is a high priority for the institution.”

When it comes to graduate degrees, Webster University in Missouri, ranked number one for African-American students.

DIHE reported that Webster had the most diverse group of graduate degree earners. It ranked was also the only Missouri institution listed in the top 100 for overall diversity among graduate students, the reports states.

Georgia State also landed the number 11 spot in awarding doctoral degrees to African-Americans.

The school also leads the way ranking fifth in awarding degrees in the business fields as well as physical sciences. It also ranks 15^th in conferring master’s degrees for African Americans in the including business, physical sciences, public health, mathematics and statistics, biological and biomedical sciences, public health, parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies and area, ethnic, cultural, gender and group studies fields.