School Context, Precollege Educational Opportunities, and College Degree Attainment Among High-Achieving Black Males

Abstract

Access to high-quality educational opportunities is central to growing postsecondary degree attainment. This study employs secondary data analysis of the public-use National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/00) to examine how school context and precollege educational opportunities influence college degree attainment among high-achieving Black males. Findings show that approximately 40 % of high-achieving Black males attained a bachelor’s degree or higher 8 years after high school. Binary logistic regression analysis indicates that attending an urban school decreases the likelihood of bachelor’s degree attainment. Attending a private school, on the other hand, has the opposite effect—it increases the likelihood of bachelor’s degree attainment. Results also indicate that although participating in a gifted and talented program increases the likelihood of bachelor’s degree attainment among high-achieving Black males, participating in Advanced Placement has no effect. Implications for educators in K-16 educational settings are discussed.