Even though blacks are more likely to enter college than are whites with similar backgrounds, they usually get much lower grades, rank toward the bottom of the class, and far more often drop out

Black college freshmen are more likely to aspire to science or engineering careers than are white freshmen, but blacks abandon these fields at twice the rate of whites. Blacks who start college interested in pursuing a doctorate and an academic career are twice as likely to be derailed from this path if they attend a school where they are mismatched. About half of black college students rank in the bottom 20% of their classes (and the bottom 10% in law school). Black law school graduates are four times as likely to fail bar exams as are whites. Interracial friendships are more likely to form among students with relatively similar levels of academic preparation; thus, blacks and Hispanics are more socially integrated on campuses where they are less academically mismatched.