ABSTRACT
Over the past few years much debate has been raised about the increasing attrition rates of African Americans from postsecondary education and corollary problems of African-American student retention in institutions of higher education. Studies of African-American students attending predominantly white postsecondary institutions commonly report their social and economic characteristics; their levels of adjustment; and their academic success and attrition rates. While the access of students of color to higher educational opportunities has improved in general, the access of African-American students specifically has not. The research literature further provides specific factors that explain a disproportionately large share of the variance in attrition rates for African-American students. Those factors are the academic preparation of African-American students for higher education, the availability of family resources and access to institutional financial aid, and institutional barriers to access, enrollment, and retention.
