Abstract
Recent research has noted differences in the predictive efficacy of educational attainment models produced for whites as opposed to blacks; and called for more resolution in the findings on blacks in advance of further comparative analyses. The National Study of Black College Students (NSBCS) is employed to develop a model that distinguishes between high- and low-performing black undergraduates attending public, four-year institutions. In the NSBCS sample (N=695), discriminant function analysis identifies several institutional and student characteristics which are related to black students' educational outcomes. Specifically, students with both high occupational aspirations and high academic performances tend to be male, attend comparatively larger schools, and, to a lesser degree, be relatively well-adjusted upperclassmen. When academic performance is the sole issue, it is positively correlated with institutional quality, but the advantage belongs to black females. Contrary to the suggestions of previous research, black community sentiment did not have relationships with educational outcomes to the extent expected. These results suggest that future models of black educational attainment marry traditional Wisconsin-type measures with institutional and student attributes.
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Smith, A.W., Allen, W.R. Modeling black student academic performance in higher education. Res High Educ 21, 210–225 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00975106
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00975106