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Typically we read no-so-positive statistics about African-American men. But according to some new studies, the statistics are changing for the better — on the surface. A new report found that more black men are in college than in prison.

According to Howard University professor Ivory Toldson in a story for The Root (via The American Project), a 2001 report on black male college enrollment by the Justice Policy Institute — “Cellblocks or Classrooms” — is  far out of date. “If we replicated JPI’s analysis,” writes Toldson, “we would find a 108.5 percent jump in black male college enrollment from 2001 to 2011. The raw numbers show that enrollment of black males increased from 693,044 in 2001 to 1,445,194 in 2011.”

Using 2009 figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and the Department of Justice’s statistics on prison enrollment, we find that of the estimated two million inmates held in state or federal prison or local jails, 841,000 are African-American men. This is the DOJ’s most recent year for data on prison populations. These figures show that there were more than 150 percent more black males in college than incarcerated. As we recently reported, the number of blacks in prison has decline—for both African-American men and women.

Even though there are more black men in college, according to another report, college degree attainment lags for young men and minorities.

Compared to the 30 percent of women who earn a bachelor’s degree, only 22 percent of men do the same. And whites are twice as likely to graduate college by age of 25, reports Reuters (via Huffington Post). These numbers are based on a 14-year study highlights challenges for U.S. youth. “Wide racial and gender gaps persist among young Americans when it comes to earning a college degree and getting a job,” reports Reuters.

Moreover, the study found, at age 25, blacks and Hispanics were twice as likely as whites to be high school dropouts, while whites were more than twice as likely to have earned a bachelor’s degree.

Thirty percent of whites had graduated from college by their mid-20s, versus the only 14 percent of blacks and 12 percent of Hispanics had done so.

Even when whites drop out of high school, they were still more likely to spend more weeks employed than racial minorities, the  study discovered. White dropouts spent 28 percent of their weeks between the ages of 22 and 25 out of work. Compare this to black dropouts, who were unemployed for 42 percent of that time.

The study included about 9,000 25-year-olds.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women who had at least a bachelor’s degree were more likely to be employed than similarly educated men and spend less time out of work.

Long story short, while there are many people questioning the value of a college education at a time when student loan debt and tuition are skyrocketing, having an advanced education is a valuable commodity in today’s job marketplace. Any advantage is to your benefit.

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As a woman, if you’ve been to a club lately, you can do a quick scan of the room and see the odds of finding a man that night are not in your favor. It’s not only the thirsty women that make it hard to meet someone. It’s the fact that generally there are fewer men in the room. And the list gets even shorter when you consider whether or not he checks off your visual appearance box.

Since it’s a fact that there are more women in the United States than men, we are born with the odds against us for finding a life mate. However add in a bit of criteria, like a college degree, and the numbers are staggeringly worse. According to TheAtlantic.com, 22.9 percent of black women between the age of 25 and 29 have college degrees, while only 17 percent of black men have a college degree.

Women are beginning to adjust to this reality. Back in the late ’60s and early ’70s when the feminist movement was prevalent and women were burning bras, it was more likely that a woman with a college degree sought out a mate with equal or more education. However, since the ’70s this number has decreased more and more while the likelihood of men marrying a woman with a college degree has experienced a consistent increase.

In most metropolitan cities, including places like New York and Chicago, college-educated women outnumber college-educated men by an average of 29 percent. However the worst odds are in Sarasota, FL or Augusta, GA where women with college degrees outnumber men with college degrees by 82 percent and 56 percent respectively.

These numbers should not be totally discouraging. Black women, you can find a man! However it may make you put things in perspective when you meet that sweet bus driver instead of trying to hold out for the lawyer. Are you willing to work with the numbers and settle down with someone without a degree?

Check out CAP on Twitter: @in_allCAPs

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It is a well-known fact that there still is a major gender pay gap. A new report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) concludes that part of the reason women working full-time earned only 82 percent on average of what their male peers earned just one year out of college is the choice of college majors.

“Men are more likely to study higher-paying specialties like engineering and computer science, while women are more likely to pursue lower-paying specialties like education and social sciences,” reports Forbes. The pay gap is also due to gender discrimination and salary negotiations differences. “Although women cannot avoid the pay gap completely, they can make choices that enhance their earning potential.” For example, Forbes looks at a report by Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce (CEW) which found that “the highest earning college major for both sexes ($120,000 for Petroleum Engineering) earns 314% more than the lowest earning major ($29,000 for Counseling Psychology), when comparing median earnings.”

Overall, having a STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) career indicates there will be higher pay. “The worst-paying college majors for women are Theology and Religious Vocations (median $33,000), Human Services and Community Organization (median $35,000), and Cosmetology Services and Culinary Arts (median $36,000),” Forbes continues.

STEM profession are really the way to go. According to a 2012 report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, “the demand will far outstrip the supply for these coveted graduates;” reports The Washington Post.

There is a continuing effort to get more women in STEM field, even from an early age. GoldieBlox, a girl-friendly engineering toy by Stanford engineering student Debbie Sterling, is designed to encourage little girls to become interested in engineering. The first GoldieBlox kit will hit stores in 2013. Even Barbie is hitting the STEM bandwagon. The new  Mega Bloks Barbie Build ´N Style was created to develop math and science skills in girls.

There has also been a push to get more blacks in STEM professions.  According to WaPo, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering has partnered with more than 50 universities nationwide to recruit, retain, and produce African American STEM graduates. The push is much-needed. Project Step-Up (STEM Trends in Enrollment and Persistence for Underrepresented Populations) data found that there has only been a two percent to three percent increase of African Americans in STEM professions over the past 30 years. “Last year, blacks received just 7 percent of STEM related Bachelor’s degrees, 4 percent of Master’s degrees and only 2 percent of doctorates,” the paper says.

According to CEW, here are five best-paying college majors for women:

No. 1: Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration
Percentage of women: 42%
Women’s median earnings: $100,000
Men’s median earnings: $110,000

No. 2: Information Sciences
Percentage of women: 26%
Women’s median earnings: $75,000
Men’s median earnings: $65,000

No. 3: Chemical Engineering
Percentage of women: 23%
Women’s median earnings: $72,000
Men’s median earnings: $92,000

No. 4: Computer Science
Percentage of women: 22%
Women’s median earnings: $70,000
Men’s median earnings: $79,000

No. 5: Electrical Engineering
Percentage of women: 7%
Women’s median earnings: $70,000
Men’s median earnings: $86,000

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It’s a select group of college students who can claim the title of a Rhodes Scholar. This year, a record three African-American female students were just chosen for the honor.

Joy A. Buolamwini, Rhiana E. Gunn-Wright, and Nina M. Yancy will be off to study at the UK’s Oxford University next year. The three women beat out 1,700 other American students who sought the scholarship.

The Rhodes Scholarships are considered by many to be the most prestigious awards given to U.S. college students. It was created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, an industrialist who made a fortune in colonial Africa. “Each year, 32 Americans are named Rhodes Scholars. The scholarships provide funds for two or three years of graduate study at Oxford University in Britain,” writes The Journal of Blacks in Education  (JBHE).

Rhodes Scholars are also picked from 14 other destinations around the world for a total of about 80 Rhodes Scholars worldwide annually. Among the famous Rhodes Scholars are United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice; Newark Mayor Cory Booker; Apprentice winner, entrepreneur Randal Pinkett; and former President Bill Clinton.

While their numbers are few, there have been other black Rhodes Scholars, such as Alain LeRoy Locke. He was awarded a scholarship in 1907 and went on to become a major philosopher and literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance. “It is generally believed that at the time of the award the Rhodes committee did not know that Locke was Black until after he had been chosen,” reports JBHE. The next African-American Rhodes Scholar wasn’t selected until 1962, when John Edgar Wideman, now an author and professor at Brown University, was chosen. Other African-American Rhodes Scholars include Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School; Kurt Schmoke, former mayor of Baltimore and now dean of the law school at Howard University; and Franklin D. Raines, former director of the Office of Management and Budget and former CEO of Fannie Mae. The first African-American woman selected as a Rhodes Scholar was selected in 1978, Karen Stevenson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The new awardees are already off to a great start. Buolamwini, a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and  computer science major, is currently working at the Carter Center in Atlanta. She has founded or co-founded three businesses. At Oxford, she wants to obtain a degree in African studies. Yale University graduate Gunn-Wright holds a Bachelor’s degree in African American studies and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. She has been working at Women’s Policy Research and plans a Master’s degree in comparative social policy at Oxford. Unlike the other two, Yancy is a still in school. She is senior at Harvard University where she majors in social studies. She has interned at CNN, the Center for American Political Studies and in the British House of Commons. She is also a member of the Harvard Ballet Company. Yancy plans on pursuing a Master’s degree in global health science as a Rhodes Scholar.

Go girls!

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For college students with undecided degrees, first time college go-ers, or those looking to go back to school for another college degree, this list is for you! Here are 14 of the best and most helpful college degrees in 2012. These degrees are in high-demand and are bound to present several different job opportunities.

Image: Wavebreak Media

Research published in the journal Health Affairs finds that white American women with a college education have a life expectancy that’s 10.3 years longer than black women with only a high school education. There were similar findings for men: white males with a college education usually live 14.2 years longer than black men who only have a high school diploma.

New American Media took a closer look at the research, which found that even among those of the same race, where there’s an education gap, there’s also a big longevity gap.

“Although blacks have added years slightly overall, among those with the lowest education, longevity for African American men is stuck at the average life expectancy the United States reached in 1954,” the site reports.  ”[B]lack women linger at the 1962 level.”

The reasons for the disparity are many. Those with higher education make more money working at better jobs, know how to better cope with stress and live healthier lives. With increasing numbers of African Americans getting a college degree, we look forward to the day when those longevity findings will increase for the black population.

However, there are some things that blacks can do irrespective of education level to improve the likelihood of living longer. This story from the Toledo Blade discusses the anecdotal increase of vegetarianism in the black community. But some of those financial issues discussed in the research come up here.

“If a family can buy a pack of bologna cheaper than a pound of bing cherries, they’ll go for the bologna to feed their family,” said one vegetarian quoted in the story, Cynthia Snodgrass, who changed her diet for health reasons. “There’s a way to build a vegetarian kitchen cost effectively, but it takes time, patience, and creativity.”

Photo: Creatas

Just because you get a college degree, it doesn’t necessarily mean a job will be waiting for you after graduation. The job market is a tough one right now and there are some areas of study that simply aren’t paying off.

BlackEnterprise.com has compiled a list of seven college degrees that have high unemployment rates, based on a recent report from the Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Recreation is number five on the list with an 8.3 percent unemployment rate.

“The job involves creating programs for individuals and communities, as well as managing programs within the leisure services industry. Graduates often work at hotels and resorts, parks, and camps,” the article says. However, these jobs are mostly available to those who already have experience. The lesson here: Only choose to major in recreation if you want a lot of time for recreational activity.

Another degree on the list, somewhat surprisingly, is architecture. Those looking for a career in this area have been impacted by economic difficulties in the construction and building businesses.

To learn about the rest of the college degrees on the list, click through to BlackEnterprise.com.

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Given the relatively high rate of unemployment and the dismal job growth projections, how important is a college degree? From recent graduates new to the job market to 20-year veterans who find themselves recently unemployed, the scarcity of jobs has forced many professionals to accept positions that pay less and have a lower education requirement. This has prompted some people to question the value of pursuing a college education.

By Alexis Garrett Stodghill

More couples than ever are choosing shacking up over matrimony, with their numbers doubling since the ’90s, according to a new report released by The Pew Center. Its analysis of recent Census data revealed another discovery: unmarried college-educated couples who live together have a higher household income than similar married people. Unmarried partners earned a median sum of $106,400, while the legally wed took in a little less at $101,160.

These facts disprove the widely-held notion that marriage is the ideal financial arrangement for all. CNN.com elaborates:

The report’s findings fly in the face of conventional wisdom that says married people have it better economically than their unmarried counterparts.

“When we started writing this report, we thought that people who were married, and not those just living with each other, would be better off. But that’s not the case,” said D’Vera Cohn, the study’s co-author.

The key is a college degree, Cohn said.

Cohabiting couples without college educations typically fare worse than comparably educated married couples and are on par with the economic means of an adult living without a partner, the study said.

In fact, “unmarried cohabiting couples who have only completed high school have a median income of $46,540,” while “married high school-educated couples have a combined salary of $56,800,” according to AOL’s MyDaily. So for those with only a high school diploma, marriage still provides greater stability — yet less than that of a single person with a college degree.

Pew found that college educated singles earn an average of $90,067, almost twice that of high school educated unmarried live-ins. Being single and college educated does not cause one to have a high salary — this is a statistical correlation. Yet, this correlation proves the importance of a college degree over marriage for creating wealth. Because of this, when college educated singles unite, they become an economic powerhouse.

The larger combined income of educated, unmarried partners enables these couples to save 1.4 times as much as couples who do not live together. Other factors contribute to their ability to save, such as the fact that only 67% of married couples count both spouses as earners, as opposed to 78% of unmarried loves.  More income automatically means more discretionary funds.

In addition, unmarried, college educated households have fewer children. Child rearing, for couples all along the education spectrum, leads partners to drop out of the workforce.

These findings portray remaining unmarried as an economic advantage — if one has a college degree. Being college educated can make living with a similar spouse a means for getting ahead, but one can also do pretty well alone. According to this new research, anyone without a college education else is better off getting hitched.

What do you think? Does being college educated trump marriage as a foundation for financial security? Or is there more to matrimony than money? Leave your comments on your personal experiences, and discuss.

With all the talk these days about the exorbitant cost of a college degree, some may wonder if a degree is actually worth it. Ivy league schools boast the highest tuition but also offer the most lucrative networks, which begs the question is it about where you go or the cost value of your education. TAP correspondent weighed in on the topic via her fellow New Yorkers.