Chapter 3: HBCU by the Numbers: Defining Value-Added Evidence Through Student Retention and Completion in the Era of Accountability

Colleges and universities are asked more than ever to provide value-added evidence of their contributions to creating a pipeline to the college degree by enrolling, retaining, and graduating their students. This chapter offers a practical guide for leaders to define their value using metrics that account for diversity and equity to assist HBCUs in these efforts. Since their founding, HBCUs have been institutions of access, adding to the population of Americans with a college degree or credential. However, these achievements are often left unnoticed when widely used retention and graduation rate calculations fail to account for equity metrics, such as race and socioeconomic status, among other factors germane to HBCUs. As the HBCU community repositions themselves in the new decade and beyond, leveraging student retention and completion data is essential to survival in the era of accountability.