The September 2006 issue of “Black Enterprise Magazine,” a notable source of business news for African-Americans, ranks Temple one of the Top Fifty Colleges for African-Americans.
Temple placed 41st on the list, but ranked amongst the top five colleges with the highest percentage of African-American enrollment-about 20 percent-in its tuition bracket.
The list was created by selecting accredited four-year colleges with at least three percent African-American enrollment, of which 1,423 colleges qualified in the United States. Then a set of variables were used, such as total black undergraduate enrollment and graduation rate, to shorten the list.
The top five ranked colleges are, in order, Florida A&M University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University, Harvard University and Spelman College.
Florida A&M University (FAMU), founded in 1887, ranked sixth on this list in 2004, but with almost 94 percent African-American enrollment, the magazine found it to be the best college for African-American students.
“We provide our [FAMU] students with well-rounded experiences and equip them with the skills they need to be successful and productive citizens,” Castell Vaughn Bryant, FAMU’s Interim President, said.
Baymore Ndiaye, a senior accounting major from Senegal West Africa, said he found that Temple’s price fit within his budget:
“I thought about going to Northwestern University, but the tuition was just way to expensive,” Ndiaye said. “To me Temple is like a family…You get to meet many different people from many countries here,” he explained.
“It’s in a big diverse city. I wanted to be around black people. I find it comforting,” sophomore real-estate major, Monique Lowery, replied when asked why she chose to attend Temple.
“I thought about going to Spellman, but then I would be only be around black females….diversity is good. That’s how it is in the real world,” Lowery said.
The Black Enterprise top colleges list was developed by Thomas A. LaVeist, Ph.D., professor of health policy, management, and sociology at Johns Hopkins University, and CEO of DayStar Research.
Despite multiple attempts, no one from Earl G. Graves Ltd., publisher of “Black Enterprise Magazine,” was available for comment.
Courtney Makupson can be reached at cori06@temple.edu
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