The 1980s was also the time of the steepest declines in black dropout rates for young adults. However, while black dropout rates in the 1980s did significantly decline on their own there still remained a large gap between black and white students. Though college completion rates from the 1960s until the mid-1970s saw mild steady growth rates for African Americans. But there was decrease in rates in late 1970s, perhaps due to the greater incentive to gain employment after secondary school (Pew Research, 2013). From the 1980s on there was a steady increase in college completion for all races, including Black students (Ashenfelter, Collins & Yoon 2006, Evans, Garthwaite, & Moore, 2012, Hersch & Shinall 2014, Reber 2010, National Center for Education
