Understanding Needs and Concerns of Black Students in Pursuit of Higher Education

The problem of this study was to increase the general publics\u27 awareness of the difficulties Black Americans faced in pursuit of higher education. The procedure was a twofold process. First, the writer reviewed some of the pre-college variables that affected the Black student. Second, the needs and concerns of the Black student at a predominantly White University were studied by the use of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to three groups on the Eastern Illinois University Campus. The first group was comprised of twenty-five Black students that were currently enrolled in the University. The second group was twenty Black faculty and administrators and the third twenty-five White faculty and administrators. The writer designed twenty questions based on his review of the literature concerning Black students needs and concerns at predominantly White Universities. Each individual respondent was asked to answer the questions according to his or her perception of the specific need or concern. The writer has drawn the following conclusions from his study of the problems Black Americans faced in pursuit of higher education. (1) Black students responded they felt alienated by their environment; (2) Black faculty and administrators also indicated this viewpoint; (3) White faculty and administrators indicated they were in favor of increasing resources to Black elementary and secondary schools and promoting pre-college remedial and tutorial programs; (4) Black students indicated a concern over the limited number of Black faculty and administrators; (5) Black students also indicated that minority counseling and racial interaction were important needs and concerns for Black students in pursuit of higher education. The writer would like to propose the following recommendations as a result of this study: (1) an increase in Black faculty and administrators to serve as role models for the Black students; (2) improved remedial and tutorial programs for Black students; (3) an increase in minority counseling services to aid the disadvantaged Black students; (4) a more open discussion of racial issues to increase the overall awareness of the general public, faculty, and students