Do African American Students' Perceptions Of Their Needs Have Implications For Retention?

African American student retention on predominantly White campuses continues to be one of the greatest challenges for many colleges and universities. In addition to the impact of student attrition on the economic well-being of the university, the image of the university is at risk when African American students' attrition rates far exceed those of White students. Researchers, when studying factors related to retention, found that high GPA and test scores predict academic performance differently for African American students than for White students (Farver, Sedlacek, & Brooks, 1975; Lunneborg & Lunneborg, 1986). Even when academic preparation was considered, disparity still resulted. Steele (1992) observed that