Research and Assessment

The Black Scholars Initiative in partnership with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment have worked together to review our programs, cohorts, and the student experience. Our data tracks the academic outcomes of students who participated in Berklee’s Black Scholars Initiative (BSI) and examines the relationship between participation in BSI with course grades, retention, and graduation rates. Below you will find key highlights as of June 2022 in addition to several historical reports for review.

As of June 2022 key findings include:

• BSI participants have higher retention and graduation rates than Black or African American students who did not participate in BSI. BSI participants who started in 2017–2018 have a 55 percent graduation rate, with an additional 8 percent of students still enrolled. This rate is higher than Black or African American students who did not participate in BSI.
• Course level outcomes of BSI participants are similar to those of Black or African American students who did not participate in BSI. Both groups have a 90 percent credit completion rate since 2017-2018, which is slightly lower than other Berklee students (95 percent).
• Historically at Berklee, students who were assigned low academic ratings on their application or received a grade of D, F, or Withdraw in a core ear training or harmony course have low graduation rates. However, BSI participants who had low academic ratings or received a grade of D, F, or W in a core ear training or harmony course had higher graduation rates than those who did not participate in BSI.

Note: Graduation rates are traditionally measured six years after entering Berklee. These students entered in 2017–2018 and will not have a six year graduation rate until 2023.