COLLEGE FIT FOR ME: AN EARLY COLLEGE ACCESS WORKSHOP SERIES FOR NINTH-GRADE BLACK AND LATINO MALES

More students from underrepresented populations are going to college than ever before, yet their college graduation rates remain low in comparison to their White peers, especially for Black students. Among Black and Latino alumni of Bright Futures Academy, it was found that male students persisted through college at significantly lower rates than female students. An intervention program, College Fit for Me, was created to explore the college-going mindset and aspirations of ninth-grade Black and Latino males. The workshop series provided participants with earlier access to college admissions criteria to help them understand the impact of this access on their self-efficacy for identifying a best-fit college and setting goals to attend college in the future. Study participants were most influenced by college affordability and its relation to grades and test scores. After the intervention, all the participants believed they could afford college and wanted to attend, only expressing concerns about developing better habits in high school so they could attend a selective best-fit college and about belonging on campus, especially if they chose to attend a predominately White institution (PWI) rather than a historically Black college or university (HBCU)