Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Committee Chair
Jeffrey Hamilton
Abstract
With the rising costs of tuition and fees at colleges and universities, the issue of retaining students has now become more important than ever. Several institutions of higher education spend thousands of dollars annually to recruit and enroll new students. Once enrolled, the faculty, staff and administration all share the obligation of keeping students enrolled until graduation. The more access to necessary resources college students have, the better the chance they will persist toward graduation. Additionally, college students who are engaged within the university community will retain at a better rate than their counterparts who are not.
Small, private colleges and universities are typically enrollment-driven institutions; and with such a small number of students, retention is even more of a priority. One of the hardest groups of students to retain, especially at predominately White institutions, are African-American male students. Averett University, a small, private, predominately White university in Virginia, has recently experienced some retention issues with African-American male students. The purpose of this consultancy project was to identify the causes associated with the failed retention of African-American male students at the university and work to mitigate the risks. A number of goals and objectives to address the retention dilemma in addition to some action plan items are discussed within the executive summary. Emphasis is placed on access to adequate resources, mentorship, student engagement, and overall student support.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Howard, DeAndre T., "Finishing the Race: Increasing Student Persistence Among African-American Males at Averett University" (2018). Education Dissertations and Projects. 219.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/219