Only 43% of black male ninth-graders graduate from high school in four years in the United States

Diane Hirth:

9-percent fewer black male freshmen showed up last fall at Florida universities than in the prior year.

When blacks do get to college, females outnumber males. Only four of 10 black college students are male, nationally and in Florida.

As more people ages 25-64 earn bachelor's degrees or higher, the gap widens between whites and blacks. In Florida, 12.4 percent of blacks had four-year college degrees as of 2000 - but that's 11.4 percentage points lower than whites, compared to a 9.5 percent disadvantage a decade earlier.

One out of 13 inmates in Florida prisons is a black male ages 18 to 24.

Harvard study: Half of Blacks, Latinos Quit High School