Emerging from the pipeline: African American students, socioeconomic status, and college experiences and outcomes

Abstract

This study focuses on how social class affects the college experiences and outcomes for African American students in 4-year colleges and universities. Using a national, longitudinal data base, the findings indicate that low SES African American students have less contact with faculty, study less, are less involved with student organizations, work more, and have lower grades than do their high SES peers or all African American students. Furthermore, 9 years after entering college, low SES students report lower incomes, lower rates of degree attainment and lower aspirations than their high SES peers, and were less likely to have attended graduate school. Logistic regression results indicate that sex, college GPA, and plans following college significantly affect the likelihood that a student will attend graduate school. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.