A Comparison of the Persistence of African American and White Students Using NPSAS:96. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

This study examines within-year persistence of undergraduate white and African American college students, focusing on how this information can be used to inform initiatives on retention. Data was collected from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study of 1996; the sample included 1,482 African American and 11,292 white four-year undergraduate students; no other ethnic groups were included. The dependent variable was within-year progression of students from fall 1995 to spring 1996; 35 independent variables were grouped by: background, aspiration, achievement, institutional characteristics, college experiences, current year price and subsidies, and accumulated debt load. Research identified several price-related variables that could be integrated into persistence programs: (1) because tuition had a small negative effect on persistence of African American students, keeping tuition increases small and matching increases with financial aid would promote persistence; (2) African Americans respond positively to grants; (3) while work-study programs were not significantly associated with persistence, the study concluded that the social and economic benefits of such programs would result in improved persistence; and (4) accumulated debt load had a negative effect on persistence for African American students. The primary nondebt-related variable was parental educational level; as parental educational level increases, so do the aspirations of their children. (Contains approximately 65 references.) (CH)