Benedict College recognized as top producer of STEM graduates

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Benedict College has been named a Top 10 Smaller HBCU for STEM by The Hundred-Seven, a website focused on the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities.

Benedict made the list of smaller and liberal arts institutions that graduate the most Black students earning degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields. The list was compiled by evaluating data published by news magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education’s Top 100 Degree Producers for 2016-2019.

Benedict is ranked No. 6, while Allen University is No. 8. The Hundred-Seven noted Benedict’s degrees in STEM fields including biology, computer science, environmental engineering and cyber security and its number of graduates with degrees in biology, physical sciences and engineering.

S.C. schools Claflin University and Morris College also made the list, available online.

Citing data from the United Negro College Fund, The Hundred-Seven announcement said HBCUs graduate 25% of Black students who earn degrees in STEM fields, including 46% of Black women who earned STEM degrees from 1995 to 2004. Nearly 30% of Black students who earn doctorates in STEM fields began their education at HBCUs, according to the data.

“Biology was one of the top majors for our incoming freshmen at Benedict College in 2019,” Roslyn Clark Artis, Benedict College president, said in a news release. “I am proud that our STEM department is being recognized for their hard work as one of the top producers of African Americans with degrees in biology, physical sciences, and engineering technologies.”