Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Markus Berndt

Abstract

AbstractBlack male students are retained in higher education at less than half the rate of their Hispanic and White counterparts. At Southwestern Community College (SWCC, a pseudonym), there were indicators that the amount of financial aid received was related to retention; however, the extent of the relationship was unknown. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between the amount of financial aid received and the retention of first-to-second-year Black male students at SWCC. Bean and Metzner’s model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition provided the theoretical foundation. The research question sought to clarify the extent to which the amount of financial aid received predicts retention of first-year Black male students at SWCC. A convenience sample of archival data were collected on 242 first-year Black male college students who attended SWCC between 2014 and 2019. The college also provided archived financial aid amounts paired with first-to-second-year retention data which were logistically regressed to examine the predictive nature of financial aid received on first-to-second-year retention. Although the model correctly classified 65.8% of the cases for financial aid received and Black male student retention, the findings were not significant (β = .072, p = .052). This finding provided further empirical evidence that financial aid plays some role in Black male student retention. Positive social change will advance when financial aid, combined with other institutional factors related to Black male student retention, are implemented with fidelity to reduce the retention gap for Black male students.

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