The impact of internal and external factors on the academic success of selected African American students

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of 208 selected African American students at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, in March, 2010. The study investigated the impact of internal and external factors such as school preparation, self determination, financing, mentoring, academic advising, and self efficacy, and the impact that these six identified factors had on their grade point average and their academic achievement at Rowan University. Academic achievement was measured by a self reported grade point average of a 3.0 or higher. Data on the attitudes were collected by means of a survey using a 31 Likert-type items on a 5-point scale of 1-Strongly Agree to 5-Strongly Disagree. Data analysis suggests that selected African American students generally enter college prepared academically. It was also reported that self determination and self efficacy played a major part in the academic achievement of selected African American students