This document comprises the proceedings of a conference that brought together administrators, researchers, and faculty from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to address the growing problem of retaining black students. Activities were structured into 5 general sessions, 16 concurrent sessions, and 2 special sessions. Principal…

This pamphlet provides an overview of the historic role, accomplishments, and challenges which face historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as they carry out their unique mission. It summarizes the efforts of the Department of Education aimed at strengthening HBCUs, while assuring that higher education programs do not discriminate on…

A Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) study was conducted in 1988 to examine perceptions of college climate among black students at predominantly white colleges and white students in historically black colleges. Data were obtained from 20 historically black and 20 predominantly white institutions which participated in the 1977 and 1978 SREB…

A study examined the academic success and retention of 213 first-year female African-American students at a historically black, private, liberal arts college in the Southeast. The women were surveyed concerning their preparation and readiness for college during their first weeks on campus, and responses were compared with actual academic…

After reviewing the literature on mentoring, this report presents the results of a study of 544 students enrolled at Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically black institution. Students responses to the following issues are analyzed by gender, race, classification, and school and college: (1) reasons for having a mentor relationship at…

This study explored factors contributing to the educational aspirations of African American students. An underlying assumption of the study was that the paradigm for looking at aspirations as a key predictor of later attainment in college students may work differently for black students than for the general population. The study involved data…

The Black administrator, whose role in higher education has been important historically in predominantly Black colleges and universities and also within predominantly White institutions, will become even more important in the future as demographics and technology continue to change. In general, Black administrators have been given responsibility…

This study analyzed institutional factors that significantly affect cohort default rates at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and assessed the potential for reducing these rates. It has been hypothesized that the HBCUs most successful in lowering student cohort default rates are those that have also succeeded in increasing…