The Black Students' Pursuit of College in the 1980s and Beyond:

Abstract

Over the last decade, total college student enrollments increased about 30% from 9.6 to 12.5 million students. Black college student enrollments comprised 10.2% of this population in 1976 and declined to 9.5% by 1984. This paper will: (1) highlight significnat trends and shifts affecting this population of black students, (2) present current issues confronting these students, their parents and the colleges in the college selection process, and (3) suggest guidelines to families and schools to boost black enrollment and augment positive college adustments. Personal observations, case illustrations, recent studies and published literature will be used to examine this decline.