Efficacy of institutional interventions on the attainment profile of African-Americans at a regional predominately white institution: Questions of will, effort, competence and responsibility

摘要

The nature of access to higher education at predominately white institutions for African-Americans has been focused largely on the preparation of the student. Little attention has been placed on the quality of the interaction of the student with standardized institutional practices and procedure. The purpose of this study is to examine the differences obtained by African-Americans, when the institution adjusts practices and procedures to be inclusive of the academic, social and environmental characteristics versus the creation of specialized interventions;African-American students attending a Midwestern regional comprehensive university between 1985-1990 are the bases of the study. Each entry class was introduced to increasing levels of intervention, ranging from none to four interventions. The interventions were either institutional or specialized. The study examines two categories of intervention: institutional adjustments (academic standards, residential life programs, financial aid and advisement) and specialized programs (pre-matriculation bridge program, ethnic specific social programs, and academic assistance). The students are followed from entrance to exit to find if specialized programs produced greater persistence and/or attainment.