Role of Nontraditional Family Support on African American Students' College Experiences

There is a wealth of research supporting the notion that African American family members play a critical role in supporting African American students in their college experience. However, the majority of research investigating the impact of family support on the experiences of African American college students has focused on students from traditional family backgrounds. Therefore, studies examining family support among African American college students from nontraditional families are limited. This study employed qualitative methods to examine how family support influenced the academic experiences of African American college students. Participants were six African American junior and senior undergraduates attending a southeastern, predominately White institution. Findings suggest that the participants from nontraditional families are generally supported by their families while in college, but experience a lack of support for some academic and racial stressors. These findings have the potential to assist college administrators, faculty, and staff in understanding how to better support African American students from nontraditional families who attend predominately White institutions.Bachelor of Art