Education and Discrimination Statistics: Unveiling Disparities and Their Impact

Introduction

Free public primary and secondary education in the United States was established to ensure that all Americans have access to educational opportunity and are equipped to fully participate in our democracy. However, historical and contemporary factors have resulted in significant disparities in educational experiences and outcomes across different racial and ethnic groups. Laws banning enslaved people from being taught to read, exclusionary Jim Crow laws, and the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson entrenched racial segregation of public schools in the South, and, while not mandated by law, a de facto system of segregation became commonplace in Northern states at the same time. These systems were used to deprive people of color of the educational resources required to prosper in society throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Nearly 70 years after the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that ended legal school segregation, substantial racial disparities in educational opportunity and attainment still exist.

Recognizing these disparities and understanding their determinants is important because they have stark implications for labor market outcomes, including employment, wages and earnings, and occupations and job quality, all key factors in individuals’ economic wellbeing. In addition, since education is the bedrock of labor productivity, policies that raise the quality and quantity of education for underserved groups have and would boost productivity for the country as a whole. One well-cited study finds that 40 percent of per capita GDP growth from the period of 1960 to 2010 can be accounted for by women and Black men entering into highly skilled occupations. Although disparity in access to high quality education is only one of many barriers faced by workers of color, these findings demonstrate the potential magnitude of the gains that would come from better fostering the talent innate in our future workforce. Indeed, researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimate that removing racial gaps in educational attainment alone-separate from any effect on employment or hours-would have increased GDP in 2019 by $190 billion.

This article delves into the statistics surrounding education and discrimination, exploring disparities in K-12 and postsecondary education, their determinants, and their far-reaching consequences.

Racial Disparities in Elementary and Secondary Education

Childhood educational experiences have been shown to shape academic outcomes in adolescence and later in life, impacting indicators of well-being far into adulthood. Racial differences in childhood educational experiences thus have the potential to place children of different races on different trajectories at an early age, making it more difficult for some to achieve economic security in adulthood than others. Although school enrollment rates are similar across race and ethnicity for three- to five-year-old children, research indicates that substantial gaps in reading and math achievement exist at the beginning of kindergarten. Black-white gaps in reading and math are about one-half and three-quarters of a standard deviation, respectively, and Hispanic-white gaps in both subjects are similarly large. Gaps between students of any other race, a diverse category which includes Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native children in addition to children of multiple races, and white students are about 0.4 standard deviations for both reading and math.

Achievement Gaps Over Time

Although the Black-white and Hispanic-white gaps for reading and math are similar at the beginning of elementary school, the Black-white gaps widen as students progress through secondary school while the Hispanic-white gaps shrink. The Black-white gaps in reading and math expand from 0.53 and 0.73 standard deviations, respectively, in the fall of kindergarten to 0.95 and 1 standard deviations, respectively, in the spring of 8th grade. In contrast, the Hispanic-white reading and math gaps fall from 0.48 and 0.76 to 0.36 and 0.44, respectively, over the same period. Most of the widening of the Black-white gaps occurs in elementary school, with evidence of little change after eighth grade. Similarly, most of the narrowing of the Hispanic-white gaps occurs early in elementary school, and research shows the gaps continue to narrow (less rapidly) as students progress through middle and high school. These patterns, coupled with evidence that gains early in elementary school are concentrated among recent immigrants and students with low levels of English proficiency, have led some scholars to conclude that the improvements among Hispanic students are likely driven in part by the development of English language skills among these students.

In 2003, the gaps between white and Black 4th grade reading and math scores were 31 and 27 points, respectively. By 2009, both gaps had closed to 26 and stayed relatively constant throughout the 2010s before widening to 28 (reading) and 29 (math) in 2022, likely due to differential impacts of pandemic-related learning disruptions. In contrast, the Hispanic-white gaps in reading and math have been steadily closing over the last 20 years, improving from 28 and 22, respectively, in 2000 to 22 and 21 in 2022.

Prior to 2011, the scores of Asian and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students were reported together, and students in this combined group performed similarly to if not slightly better than white students in both reading and math. However, as evident from the trends for students in these two groups reported separately after 2011, this aggregation masks important heterogeneity, with Asian students consistently outperforming white students in both reading and math and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students consistently lagging behind.

High School Completion Rates

High school completion rates are another important measure of academic achievement in secondary school since high school completion is required for many jobs and to pursue postsecondary education. Since 1992, the percent of adults 25-years-old and older who have graduated from high school has increased for all racial and ethnic groups, with the largest improvements occurring among Black and Hispanic individuals, the groups with the lowest completion rates in 1992. High school completion rates increased from 68 percent in 1992 to 91 percent in 2021 for Black individuals and from 53 percent to 74 percent over that same period for Hispanic individuals. While there is still a relatively large gap in the Hispanic high school completion rate relative to others, it is clear that progress has been and continues to be made on this dimension.

Access to Resources and Opportunities

African American students are less likely than white students to have access to college-ready courses. Even when Black students do have access to honors or advanced placement courses, they are vastly underrepresented in these courses. Black and Latino students represent 38% of students in schools that offer AP courses, but only 29% of students enrolled in at least one AP course. Black students spend less time in the classroom due to discipline, which further hinders their access to a quality education. Black students are nearly two times as likely to be suspended without educational services as white students. Black students are also 3.8 times as likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions as white students. In addition, Black children represent 19% of the nation’s pre-school population, yet 47% of those receiving more than one out-of-school suspension. In comparison, white students represent 41% of pre-school enrollment but only 28% of those receiving more than one out-of-school suspension. Students of color are often concentrated in schools with fewer resources. According to the Office for Civil Rights, 1.6 million students attend a school with a sworn law enforcement officers (SLEO), but not a school counselor. In 2015, the average reading score for white students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 4th and 8th grade exam was 26 points higher than Black students. Similar gaps are apparent in math.

Racial Disparities in Postsecondary Education

Racial disparities in education persist beyond high school and into postsecondary education and are evident in the differences in college enrollment rates. College premiums remain high, such that these differences in enrollment and graduation rates will contribute to large disparities in lifetime earnings.

College Enrollment Rates

Overall, the share of young adults enrolled in college has increased over the last three decades, with the largest gains occurring for Black and Hispanic individuals. In 1990, 25 percent of Black 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college or graduate school, and by 2020, that number had risen to 36 percent. Over the same period, the share of Hispanic young adults enrolled in college or graduate school more than doubled from 16 percent to over 35 percent. White and Asian young adults, who had the highest rates of college enrollment in 1990, experienced smaller gains of roughly 6 to 7 percentage points, as did American Indian/Alaska Native young adults. In contrast, the enrolled share of Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander young adults and those belonging to two or more races declined between 2010 and 2020 from 36 percent to 34 percent and from 38 percent to 34 percent, respectively.

Type of Institution

In addition to comparing overall college enrollment rates, it is important to consider the types of schools students enroll in. Students may enroll in institutions of different levels (two-year or four-year) and type (not-for-profit or for-profit). Given evidence of higher returns to an additional year of schooling at four-year institutions than at two-year institutions and evidence that attending a for-profit institution may lead to worse post-college labor market and financial outcomes than not attending college at all, differential enrollment patterns by race and ethnicity may lead to lasting differences in economic security post-college. Asian and white undergraduates, along with undergraduates of two or more races are most likely to be enrolled at four-year institutions. In contrast, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander undergraduates are most likely to be enrolled at two-year institutions, although, notably, the share of Hispanic students enrolled at two-year institutions is nearly 10 percentage points larger than the share of Black students enrolled at these institutions. Black and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students are much more likely than any other group to enrolled at for-profit institutions, both two- and four-year.

Bachelor's Degree Attainment

These differences in enrollment patterns contribute to the racial differences in bachelor’s degree attainment. Since 1990, the percent of people 25 years old and older with a bachelor’s degree has increased for all racial and ethnic groups, but Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native individuals still lag behind Asian and white individuals and those of two or more races. College degrees are regarded as a primary vehicle for reducing poverty and closing the wealth gaps between people of color and whites, yet, the disparities that exist are alarming.

Determinants of Racial Disparities in Educational Experiences and Attainment

The Role of Socioeconomic Status

Recall that sizeable achievement gaps exist at the beginning of kindergarten despite relatively similar pre-school enrollment rates. Therefore, these early disparities in achievement must be driven by something other than differences in access to formal schooling prior to elementary school. Research suggests that nearly all of the Black-white reading gap and over 80 percent of the Black-white math gap at the beginning kindergarten can be explained by differences in socioeconomic status and observed family background characteristics. A potential explanation for racial achievement gaps is that they are largely due to socioeconomic disparities between white, black, and Hispanic families. As Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis notes: “Black and Hispanic children’s parents typically have lower incomes and lower levels of educational attainment than white children’s parents. Children from low-socioeconomic status households and communities develop academic skills more slowly than children from higher socioeconomic status groups, as reported by the American Psychological Association. The school systems in low-socioeconomic status communities are often under-resourced, which negatively impacts the academic progress and outcomes of the students they serve. Children from low-socioeconomic status families enter high school with average literacy skills five years behind those of high-income students. Individuals within the top family income quartile are 8 times more likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree by age 24 as compared to individuals from the lowest family income quartile.

School Segregation and Funding Disparities

Not all public-school systems and districts are equal, and these differences often fuel different outcomes, opportunities and access to resources. This uneven landscape continues to fuel racial disparities that negatively impact students of color. Black students, for example, are twice as likely as their white peers to be in inadequately funded school districts and 3.5 times more likely to be in “chronically underfunded” districts, according to a 2024 report released by the Albert Shanker Institute. "School segregation levels are not at pre-Brown levels, but they are high and have been rising steadily since the late 1980s,” said Sean Reardon, the Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education at Stanford Graduate School of Education and faculty director of the Educational Opportunity Project. “There’s a tendency to attribute segregation in schools to segregation in neighborhoods,” said Ann Owens, a professor of sociology and public policy at USC.

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Discriminatory Discipline Practices

Among public school students issued out-of-school suspensions, Black students were most likely to be suspended (12%) followed by American Indian students (7%). Asian students (1%) as well as white and Hispanic students (both 4%) were far less likely to suffer this same punishment. Suspension can double the risk of someone dropping out of school, which - in turn - triples the risk of justice involvement.

The Impact of Racism in Schools

In 2023, approximately one in three high school students across the United States reported that they had ever experienced racism in school, described as unfair treatment in school because of their race or ethnicity. Experiences of racism were two to three times more prevalent among students of color (i.e., AI/AN, Asian, Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and NH/OPI students) compared with White students, with Asian students reporting the highest prevalence of having ever experienced racism. The high prevalence of experiences of racism and associations between racism and health risk behaviors among Asian students in this report align with findings from the 2021 ABES, which used the same question to assess exposure to racism that was used in the 2023 YRBS to provide nationally representative estimates of experiences of racism among high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AI/AN, Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students who reported having ever (versus never) experienced racism in school had a higher prevalence of current poor mental health and persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Across all racial and ethnic minority groups, the prevalence of seriously considering attempting suicide and suicide attempts during the past year was higher among those who reported having ever (versus never) experienced racism. Among Black, Hispanic, and White students, the prevalence of current use of any tobacco product, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription opioid misuse was higher among students who reported having ever (versus never) experienced racism in school.

Legal Frameworks and Civil Rights Protections

Supreme Court famously declared that “separate is not equal” in a ruling that aimed to end the practice of race-segregated public schools. Although this case, known as Brown v. Supreme Court prohibited segregation, many of America’s public schools are still racially and ethnically isolated. Supreme Court passed Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which ruled that schools receiving federal funding could not discriminate students according to their race.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), a branch of the Department of Education charged with investigating claims of discrimination in schools and other programs the department funds, received a record-high 19,201 complaints in 2023. This was up 2% from 2022. The OCR enforces a range of civil rights laws, including Titles II, VI, and IX. Anyone can file a discrimination complaint, whether they were the victim themselves or are filing on behalf of someone else.

Key Civil Rights Laws Enforced by the OCR

Title VI: Barring discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. Different treatment or denial of benefits because of race is the top Title VI complaint, accounting for 39.1% of Title VI allegations. Racial harassment is second (18.4%), and retaliation is third (16.0%).
Title IX: Barring discrimination based on sex. In 2023, 8,151 complaints claimed Title IX violations.
Section 504 and Title II: Barring discrimination based on disability. Over half of allegations brought under these two laws (57.4%) were related to three categories. The most filings concerned free access to public education, known as “FAPE”; Section 504 requires schools to provide students with personalized services to meet their needs at no cost and spawned 23.9% of complaints. Complaints alleging different treatment or denial of benefits made up 18.9%, and retaliation another 14.6%.
Age Discrimination Act of 1975: Barring discrimination based on age (does not include employment).
Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act: Prohibiting access discrimination by school facilities.

Strategies for Addressing Disparities

While these statistics are disheartening, UNCF and its partners have developed several recommendations and solutions to alleviate these achievement and opportunity gaps.

Among the evidence-based strategies to consider: Same-race elementary school teachers have been shown to boost academic achievement among their students. In one study, Black students were randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in their first four years of primary school. The Center for American Progress also identifies strategies for realizing a more equitable K‑12 academic landscape: updating school boundaries and selection criteria to promote racial equity.

Schools can implement and maintain policies and practices to prevent and to address experiences of racism occurring in school. Schools can provide professional development to teachers, administrators, and other school staff members to increase their awareness of racism in schools, including personal implicit and explicit biases that might affect their treatment of students, and build skills to intervene when they witness racism (12). Such professional development can also equip staff members to provide school and community-based resources to support students who have experienced racism (e.g., referrals for mental health treatment and resources for coping behaviors). Schools also can promote policies and practices to prevent systemic inequities in treatment that disproportionately affect the mental health and well-being of students of color. Schools can implement culturally responsive positive behavior interventions and supports as well as participatory problem-solving approaches that engage families and communities (14). Seattle Public Schools created the Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA) in 2019. AAMA works with students, families, and educators to promote school and community environments that promote success of Black boys and teens by cultivating their strengths instead of approaching student behavior from a deficit model, using a framework of systems change rather than student intervention. In addition, schools across the United States have implemented student-led affinity and intersectional groups for students identifying with racial and ethnic groups who have been marginalized (15). Such groups can provide students with an environment to discuss their experiences and develop coping and self-regulation skills, as well as develop a positive social identity and historical and cultural knowledge that affirms and accurately describes their identity. Schools also can ensure access to certified school counselors and social workers as a structural intervention to address harms from racism.

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