DURHAM, N.C. - Black Enterprise (BE) magazine has named North Carolina Central University (NCCU) as one of the Top 50 Colleges for African Americans in the nation in its September 2006 edition.
NCCU is ranked No. 30.
ldquo;NCCU has become a leader in North Carolina and among historically black colleges in the recruitment of National Achievement Scholars, some of America rsquo;s best and brightest students, rdquo; said Chancellor James H.
Ammons. ldquo;We also have one of the nation rsquo;s best law schools. We are grateful for Black Enterprises rsquo; thorough review of the data that helped us to make the list.
Our inclusion on the list is long over due. rdquo;
To develop the 2006 list, Black Enterprise surveyed more than 500 African American higher education professionals including presidents, chancellors, and directors of student affairs for their assessments of the social and academic environments for African American students at the nation's colleges and universities.
The list was derived using the following variables: black student graduation rate; average survey score for the school's academic environment; average survey score for the school's social environment; total black undergraduate enrollment; black undergraduate students as a percentage of total undergraduates (credit for this variable was capped at 50% for HBCUs); and ranking on the 2004 BE Top Colleges list.
The results were then narrowed to the published top 50.
The variable given the heaviest weighting was black graduation rates, followed by the average academic and social environment scores. Due to added emphasis on these factors and other adjustments to the survey process itself, 17 schools that made this year's list didn't appear in 2004, including Mills College and Northwestern University.
Morehouse, which had been the top school on the last two listings, slipped 44 spots, from No. 1 to No. 45, primarily because its graduation rate fell from 56% to 49% over the past two years.
Under the leadership of Ammons, NCCU has a newly constructed $36 million Mary M. Townes Science Building that anchors its West Campus. NCCU has new residential facilities with amenities that include wireless internet access and suite style living.
The university also has been selected to partner in the development of a nutrition institute at the $1.5 billion biotech campus in Kannapolis. This fall, the university launched a new statewide initiative in biotechnology through its Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise Center of Excellence.
This program is designed to help North Carolina build its workforce in biotechnology.
NCCU is a comprehensive university offering more than 100 bachelor rsquo;s degrees in various disciplines, 40 master rsquo;s degree programs and three professional degrees in law.
The BE 50 Top Colleges for African Americans report, which debuted in January 1999, was developed in collaboration with Thomas A.
LaVeist, Ph.D., CEO of DayStar Research and professor at Johns Hopkins University.
The complete list of the Top 50 Colleges for African Americans appears in the September Black Enterprise, which hit newsstands on August 29. The list will be available online on September 7th at .
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