ABSTRACT
The cost of higher education in the United States has made the transition to college very difficult for middle class and working families alike. For high-achieving African American students, cost is also an important consideration when choosing which college or university to attend. This chapter highlights how African American high-achievers describe the roles that college cost and other financial considerations played in their college choice process. Issues of college affordability are prominent in the research by the Education Trust, which outlined a variety of issues on the cost of higher education and the burden being placed upon the newest generations of college students and graduates. The cost of attending college across all levels and institutional types continues to rise, making college less affordable to students, particularly low-income or working-class students. The cost of attending higher education in the two of the California public systems, the UC and California State Universities, has doubled since 2004.
