College choice among African-American graduates of the Chicago public schools: Is there a benefit to attending historically black colleges and universities

One of the most pressing problems facing our nation is the large percentage of students who enroll in college but never complete a degree. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that only 57 percent of students who sought a bachelor's degree and enrolled in a four-year institution in the fall of 2002 completed that degree within six years. For racial/ethnic minority students, degree completion rates were much lower.;In Chicago, a city with strong ties to the South, a substantial number of African-American public school graduates aspire to attend, apply to, and enroll in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Yet, little is known about the effect of this particular college choice on college persistence. The current study uses data on African-American students who graduated from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) between 2005 and 2009 to estimate the effect of attending an HBCU on one- and two-year college persistence. In order to address student selection into HBCUs, propensity scores are estimated using a rich array of student- and high school-level pretreatment covariates, and students are stratified on their estimated propensity scores. Separate propensity score models are estimated for students with different qualifications for college based on their high school GPAs and ACT scores. The findings from this study reveal a statistically significant effect of attending an HBCU on one- and two-year college persistence across multiple specifications that incorporate propensity score stratification. CPS graduates with more marginal qualifications for college appear to benefit the most.;This study joins a growing body of research suggesting a continuing role for minority-serving institutions in the education of racial/ethnic minority youth, particularly as states dismantle their Affirmative Action systems. The implications of college choice are discussed since the current study provides evidence that African-American graduates of CPS---and in particular, graduates with lower ACT scores and lower high school GPAs---are more likely to persist in college if they choose to attend an HBCU.