The Myth Of Upward Mobility
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HBCUs Fuel the American Middle Class
New UNCF research examines upward mobility of Black students
Nov 15, 2021
Despite offering admission to a significant number of underserved students, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are remarkably successful at supporting social mobility among their students, according to a report released today by UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, the nation’s foremost research organization focusing on the educational status of African Americans from pre-school through college.
The report is titled, HBCUs Transforming Generations: Social Mobility Outcomes for HBCU Alumni,
The UNCF report offers an in-depth review of the “move into middle class+ mobility rate” and its efficiency as a measure of social mobility for Black students attending HBCUs. It provides a breakdown of access, success and social mobility rates of HBCUs, Ivy Plus institutions, the nationwide average and the averages of non-college attendees.
Three major findings of the report:
- The “move into middle class+ mobility rate” accounts for more movement between socioeconomic classes than other popular mobility rates used to measure American students’ upward mobility.
- HBCUs serve more economically disenfranchised students than most U.S. institutions. The percentage of HBCUs that educate low-income students in comparison to the nationwide average is nearly 30% higher. When compared to other institutional types, HBCUs’ average access rate is more than twice that of all institutions nationwide and five times that of “Ivy Plus” institutions. These access rates reflect the fact that more than 70% of HBCU students are Pell Grant-eligible, and 39% are first-generation college students.
- On average and across institution type, when it comes to mobility rates HBCUs outperform all other categories and are double the national rate, being the primary post-secondary driver for moving Black Americans from poverty to the middle class.
According to the report, social mobility has emerged as a primary measure for understanding the return on investment for the families of college students as well as society more broadly. The report illustrates the effectiveness of HBCUs with educating African Americans and leading them to higher earnings after graduating from college.
Most Americans Consider Themselves Middle-Class. But Are They?
Chances are that you believe you are in the middle class—nearly everyone in the United States does. Doctors and lawyers believe they are middle-class; so, too, do welders and waiters. In a 2015 Pew survey, only 10 percent of Americans said they considered themselves lower-class and just 1 percent thought they were upper-class.
Earnings have been flat or stagnant for many middle-class workers in the United States while health care, education, and housing costs are rising. Surveys show that Americans accurately perceive these pressures too and share a broad belief that the middle class is struggling. Seven in ten respondents to a Northwestern Mutual survey said that the middle class was staying the same or shrinking. One-third said the middle class might disappear entirely.
Surveying individuals about class status is one of the common ways that researchers can learn about who considers themselves middle-class, where they fall within the middle class, and why they consider themselves middle-class. There are two other primary strategies: Focus on the share of total income earned by the middle 60 percent, or define “middle class” with upper and lower income limits and see who falls in that zone.
As we explore in our recent paper, each of these methods have their limitations, but each also reveals a different facet of the decline of America's middle class: either the shrinking membership in the middle class or the reduction in aggregate middle-class income.
Survey Says: The Middle Class Knows It Is Struggling
The most straightforward way to find out who is middle-class is to just ask them. One weakness of population surveys, however, is that how people define middle-class varies. For many Americans, the term evokes specific attributes, such as thriftiness and dedication to work. Others define it in relation to income; in the minds of many, those in the middle class are likely to have some retirement savings, own a house, and send their children to college.
Chances are that you believe you are in the middle class—nearly everyone in the United States does.
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Yet even as large majorities call themselves middle-class, they also believe that the middle class is segmented. Significant numbers of respondents say they are either “lower middle-class” or “upper middle-class.” This suggests that people believe the middle class is much broader than most researchers would demarcate it. If the lower and upper middle-class people are reclassified into the lower and upper classes, respectively, as Pew researchers did in 2012, that yields a much more sensible assessment. As shown in Figure 1, with that adjustment, just shy of 50 percent of the population would be truly middle-class. (Notably, Black and Latinx respondents were far less likely than white respondents to identify themselves as belonging to the middle and upper classes, a topic that deserves further attention.)
Figure 1: Proportions of Self-Reporting Membership in Lower, Middle, and Upper Classes, by Race and Age
Lower class Middle class Upper class
All Adults 39 47 12
White 35 49 16
Black 51 41 7
Latinx 48 46 5
Lower class Middle class Upper class
18 to 29 46 43 11
30 to 49 40 48 13
50 to 64 38 48 11
65+ 35 47 17
Source: Pew Social and Demographic Trends, 2015. Note: “Don't know” was also a response option (not presented). Numbers might not add to 100 because of rounding .
Getting a Smaller Slice of the Income Pie
The second common way of defining who is middle-class divides the population, typically into quintiles, and examines the share of the nation's total income taken home by the middle group (in our case, the second, third, and fourth quintiles).
U.S. Census data (Figure 2) reveals how much income—including investment income and earnings—the middle 60 percent took home over time. From 1967 through 1987, it exceeded one-half of the country's income. By 2019, that share had fallen to 45 percent.
Chances are that you believe you are in the middle class—nearly everyone in the United States does. Doctors and lawyers believe they are middle-class; so, too, do welders and waiters. In a 2015 Pew survey, only 10 percent of Americans said they considered themselves lower-class and just 1 percent thought they were upper-class.
Earnings have been flat or stagnant for many middle-class workers in the United States while health care, education, and housing costs are rising. Surveys show that Americans accurately perceive these pressures too and share a broad belief that the middle class is struggling. Seven in ten respondents to a Northwestern Mutual survey said that the middle class was staying the same or shrinking. One-third said the middle class might disappear entirely.
Surveying individuals about class status is one of the common ways that researchers can learn about who considers themselves middle-class, where they fall within the middle class, and why they consider themselves middle-class. There are two other primary strategies: Focus on the share of total income earned by the middle 60 percent, or define “middle class” with upper and lower income limits and see who falls in that zone.
As we explore in our recent paper, each of these methods have their limitations, but each also reveals a different facet of the decline of America's middle class: either the shrinking membership in the middle class or the reduction in aggregate middle-class income.
Survey Says: The Middle Class Knows It Is Struggling
The most straightforward way to find out who is middle-class is to just ask them. One weakness of population surveys, however, is that how people define middle-class varies. For many Americans, the term evokes specific attributes, such as thriftiness and dedication to work. Others define it in relation to income; in the minds of many, those in the middle class are likely to have some retirement savings, own a house, and send their children to college.
Chances are that you believe you are in the middle class—nearly everyone in the United States does.
Share on Twitter
Yet even as large majorities call themselves middle-class, they also believe that the middle class is segmented. Significant numbers of respondents say they are either “lower middle-class” or “upper middle-class.” This suggests that people believe the middle class is much broader than most researchers would demarcate it. If the lower and upper middle-class people are reclassified into the lower and upper classes, respectively, as Pew researchers did in 2012, that yields a much more sensible assessment. As shown in Figure 1, with that adjustment, just shy of 50 percent of the population would be truly middle-class. (Notably, Black and Latinx respondents were far less likely than white respondents to identify themselves as belonging to the middle and upper classes, a topic that deserves further attention.)
Figure 1: Proportions of Self-Reporting Membership in Lower, Middle, and Upper Classes, by Race and Age
Lower class Middle class Upper class
All Adults 39 47 12
White 35 49 16
Black 51 41 7
Latinx 48 46 5
Lower class Middle class Upper class
18 to 29 46 43 11
30 to 49 40 48 13
50 to 64 38 48 11
65+ 35 47 17
Source: Pew Social and Demographic Trends, 2015. Note: “Don't know” was also a response option (not presented). Numbers might not add to 100 because of rounding .
Getting a Smaller Slice of the Income Pie
The second common way of defining who is middle-class divides the population, typically into quintiles, and examines the share of the nation's total income taken home by the middle group (in our case, the second, third, and fourth quintiles).
U.S. Census data (Figure 2) reveals how much income—including investment income and earnings—the middle 60 percent took home over time. From 1967 through 1987, it exceeded one-half of the country's income. By 2019, that share had fallen to 45 percent.
Most Americans Consider Themselves Middle-Class. But Are They?
Chances are that you believe you are in the middle class—nearly everyone in the United States does. Doctors and lawyers believe they are middle-class; so, too, do welders and waiters. In a 2015 Pew survey, only 10 percent of Americans said they considered themselves lower-class and just 1 percent thought they were upper-class.
Earnings have been flat or stagnant for many middle-class workers in the United States while health care, education, and housing costs are rising. Surveys show that Americans accurately perceive these pressures too and share a broad belief that the middle class is struggling. Seven in ten respondents to a Northwestern Mutual survey said that the middle class was staying the same or shrinking. One-third said the middle class might disappear entirely.
Surveying individuals about class status is one of the common ways that researchers can learn about who considers themselves middle-class, where they fall within the middle class, and why they consider themselves middle-class. There are two other primary strategies: Focus on the share of total income earned by the middle 60 percent, or define “middle class” with upper and lower income limits and see who falls in that zone.
As we explore in our recent paper, each of these methods have their limitations, but each also reveals a different facet of the decline of America's middle class: either the shrinking membership in the middle class or the reduction in aggregate middle-class income.
Survey Says: The Middle Class Knows It Is Struggling
The most straightforward way to find out who is middle-class is to just ask them. One weakness of population surveys, however, is that how people define middle-class varies. For many Americans, the term evokes specific attributes, such as thriftiness and dedication to work. Others define it in relation to income; in the minds of many, those in the middle class are likely to have some retirement savings, own a house, and send their children to college.
Chances are that you believe you are in the middle class—nearly everyone in the United States does.
Share on Twitter
Yet even as large majorities call themselves middle-class, they also believe that the middle class is segmented. Significant numbers of respondents say they are either “lower middle-class” or “upper middle-class.” This suggests that people believe the middle class is much broader than most researchers would demarcate it. If the lower and upper middle-class people are reclassified into the lower and upper classes, respectively, as Pew researchers did in 2012, that yields a much more sensible assessment. As shown in Figure 1, with that adjustment, just shy of 50 percent of the population would be truly middle-class. (Notably, Black and Latinx respondents were far less likely than white respondents to identify themselves as belonging to the middle and upper classes, a topic that deserves further attention.)
Figure 1: Proportions of Self-Reporting Membership in Lower, Middle, and Upper Classes, by Race and Age
Lower class Middle class Upper class
All Adults 39 47 12
White 35 49 16
Black 51 41 7
Latinx 48 46 5
Lower class Middle class Upper class
18 to 29 46 43 11
30 to 49 40 48 13
50 to 64 38 48 11
65+ 35 47 17
Source: Pew Social and Demographic Trends, 2015. Note: “Don't know” was also a response option (not presented). Numbers might not add to 100 because of rounding .
Getting a Smaller Slice of the Income Pie
The second common way of defining who is middle-class divides the population, typically into quintiles, and examines the share of the nation's total income taken home by the middle group (in our case, the second, third, and fourth quintiles).
U.S. Census data (Figure 2) reveals how much income—including investment income and earnings—the middle 60 percent took home over time. From 1967 through 1987, it exceeded one-half of the country's income. By 2019, that share had fallen to 45 percent.
Ok. Everyone is poor..
Now what?
The internet "No one cares, work harder"
Ya' Cousin Cleon
OG COUCH CORNER HUSTLA
I learned years ago not to bother with people who don't offer tangible or at least multi-faceted solutions to problems.
Be Strong Blackman
All Star
I changed my life completely in 1 year.... from 40k (living abroad) to 100k in USA
They're letting you know that they'll let anyone define who they are... Insecure people..