Factors Influencing the Decisions of Academically Talented Black Students to Attend College

Abstract

Recently, college administrators, social research institutes, politicians, and civic leaders have expressed concern about the decrease in the number of Blacks who apply to college. Prominent among the reasons given for the drop in applications and acceptance of Blacks by colleges are: rapidly expanding tuition costs, a shift in student financial assistance from grants to low-interest loans, an increase in the number of minority households below the poverty level, a deemphasis on affirmative action as a mechanism for ensuring equal employment opportunities, continued differential between Black and white high school students' academic preparation and performance, comparatively lower black college entrance examination scores, and a shift in the national mood concerning the importance and means of promoting social equality.1 According to the authors cited here, these factors serve as powerful determinants of students' decisions to attend or not to attend college. The authors also maintain that these factors have a negative impact on the ability of colleges to correct historical recruitment and admissions inequi-