From High School to College: The Transition Experiences of Black and White Students

Based on a quantitative study of students at a midsize public university in the Southeast and informed by Astin's input-environment-outcome model, this article explores how the transition experiences of Black students differed from those of White students. Black students relied more on guidance counselors in high school and orientation programs in college. Although the academic ethic was strongly related to grade point average (GPA) and a substantially larger proportion of Black females had a strong academic ethic, their GPAs were not different from those of Black males and were significantly lower than those of both White females and White males. The analysis found an inflated perception of the amount of help parents provided in the transition.