Rates of college attainment in Marion County vary by sex and race. In terms of raw numbers, more white women in Marion County have at least some college than any other group. But a greater share of white men has bachelor’s degrees. Black men have the lowest rates of college attainment.

The gap between white and black men is great at every level of educational attainment, and points to one of the Indianapolis community’s greatest challenges. Black men do not succeed as often or as well as white men in the local economy. The gap begins at the very first measurable step – high school graduation – and widens at every subsequent step. Black men’s rate of high school graduation is 91 percent that of white men; their rate of earning some college credit is 68.3 percent that of white men; of earning associate’s degrees, 43.5 percent that of white men; bachelor’s degrees, 39.2 percent that of white men; and graduate degrees, 24.3 percent that of white men.

The high school graduation rate for black women, meanwhile, is only slightly below that of white women. Black females receive diplomas at 96.9 percent of the white female rate. Black women’s rate of earning a bachelor’s degree is 82.2 percent that of white women. There is a wider gap at the associate’s degree, a troubling finding at a time when more and more occupations call for that level of education. Black women obtain associate’s degrees only 70.8 percent as often as white women (27.3 percent compared to 34.6 percent). Since many growing occupations require only an associate’s degree or a technical certificate, efforts to draw more black women into associate’s level programs may be needed if that population is to get its fair share of such jobs.