The University was recognized by Education Trust, a national non-profit advocacy organization, as one of 53 universities in the country that work to narrow the graduation gap between black and white students in its recently released report, “Rising Tide II: Do Black Students Benefit as Grad Rates Increase?.”

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In 2013, the graduation rate for all students was 65.8 percent, while the graduation rate for black students was 57.9 percent, according to Vice Provost for Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer Dereck Rovaris. The graduation rate for African-American students has increased 9.5 percent since 2003, narrowing the gap between black students and white students by 2.3 percent.
One way the University ensures that African-American students are successful is by supporting them before being admitted into the institution, Rovaris said.
“As high school juniors — some programs even earlier than that — we support them as they apply through the application process with funding and advising on choosing majors and all that,” Rovaris said. “Then we have all kinds of programs once they get here.”
Programs that support African-American students before being admitted to the University include SPRINGFEST Recruitment Weekend, which brings high school students in to show them the campus, and Summer Scholars, which brings in high-performing minority students the summer before their first year to expose them to learning strategies and college coursework, said Saundra McGuire, director emerita of the Center for Academic Success.
One reason the gap exists is because black students typically go to schools that may not provide the same experiences and preparation for college as their peers, McGuire said. The programs provided by the University when those students arrive can help shrink that learning gap.
“A number of programs have been put in place over the past 10, 15 years or even longer, that have allowed African-American students the opportunity to make up the gap in the preparation they may have had before LSU,” McGuire said.
Some of those programs include those offered to all students, such as programs put on by First Year Experience and the Center of Academic Success, specialized programming, such as the Genesis Tutoring, a program offered through the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and cultural programming such as Harambeé.
The programming and services offer support to students both academically and in extra-curricular activities, Rovaris said. The Office of Strategic Initiatives has launched plans to contribute to this success and to focus on providing support and a nurturing environment for minority students.
Another way the University ensures the success of black students is by increasing the number of underrepresented people that are recruited and admitted into the institution, Rovaris said. Those admitted are high-performing students.
“There’s this notion sometimes that when you increase diversity, that you’re somehow lowering standards, but we simultaneously increased our diversity last year and the year before, and we also increased our overall ACT score,” Rovaris said. “I think part of our success is bringing in good students as well.”
Through the introduction of new programming and the continuation of support already in place, the gap will continue to shrink, McGuire said. While these programs would be more successful if they had more funding, McGuire said she knows that would be difficult with the state’s budget situation.
“I know that it’s difficult because the University is very financially strapped because of the situation that the state is in,” McGuire said. “But if there were resources to fund those programs that have demonstrated that they close the gap, then if they were supported adequate support, I could certainly see a day where the gap is closed.”