ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Black women's enrollment in and graduation from college and reviews literature related to Black women college students. Black women in higher education, facing a myriad of challenges, find a way to turn these obstacles into strengths and opportunities for growth. The chapter outlines the challenges that includes: socially constructed homogeneity, isolation on the college campus, lack of quality mentoring, psychological stressors, forgotten institutions, and financing higher education. It also focuses on the review of relevant literature on gaining a better understanding of the issues facing Black women in American higher education. Black women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds face challenges based on their race, gender, access to information about college, unequal preparation for higher education, and financing for higher education. The chapter discusses that the types of institutions Black women attend to highlight how institutional environments generally bereft of Black women can exacerbate loneliness and seclusion for the students.
